An anoxygenic photosynthesis-inspired dual biohybrid for light-enhanced chemical production

Abstract

Integrating light-harvesting materials with non-photosynthetic microbes offers a promising route to convert sunlight into chemicals. However, many existing biohybrid systems lack a clear architectural basis linking external light capture to intracellular redox processes. Inspired by the modular architecture of anoxygenic photosynthesis, we report a dual biohybrid system for light-enhanced chemical production in Escherichia coli. The system combines extracellular conjugated polymer nanoparticles as light-harvesting antenna with intracellularly biomineralized CdS nanoparticles as reaction-center-like charge-separation modules. This architecture supports light-enhanced malate production, yielding nearly a 30-fold enhancement relative to unmodified cells. Illumination-dependent studies reveal that activity is governed by light absorption, photon flux, and the intracellular redox environment. Fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy further indicates photophysical coupling between the polymer and CdS components, consistent with energy transfer across the bio-synthetic interface and enhanced intracellular redox activity. Together, these results show how modular organization at the bio-synthetic interface can couple light harvesting with intracellular redox chemistry in living systems.

Ying Yang

Research Fellow

My research interests mainly focus on microbe-polymer semiconductor biohybrids

Zipeng Zhu

Final Year Project Student

My research interests include biohybrids living materials

Yiliang Lin

Assistant Professor in Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering

My research interests include soft matter engineering, wearable electronics, biointerfaces and living materials.