Publikation: Microbial electrosynthesis - an inventory on technology readiness level and performance of different process variants

Das Lehrgebiet BioVT ist Co-Autor bei einem Review über mikrobielle Elektrosynthese im Biotechnology Journal.

The objective of microbial electrosynthesis (MES) is to combine the advantages of electrochemistry and biotechnology in order to produce chemicals and fuels. This combination enables resource-efficient processes by using renewable raw materials and regenerative energies. In the last decade, different MES processes have been described, e.g. MES based on biofilms or mediators, electro-fermentation and secondary MES. This review compares the processes with regard to the reached process performances in terms of key process indicators (i.e. coulombic efficiency, product titer, productivities) and technology readiness level (TRL). In biofilm-based processes the underlying mechanism of electron transfer is often not elucidated, and therefore cannot be optimized yet, preventing its industrial application. Similarly, technical aspects of electro-fermentation processes and those using soluble mediators are still under investigation and techno-economic assessments are missing. In contrast, the electrochemical production of microbial substrates in secondary MES or hybrid systems already shows high key process indicators and TRLs up to 7. In summary, the different types of MES processes already offer options for today's industrial use, as well as exciting and future-oriented technology that can be applied in a medium-term perspective.

H. M. Fruehauf, F. Enzmann, F. Harnisch, R. Ulber, D. Holtmann; Microbial electrosynthesis - an inventory on technology readiness level and performance of different process variants; Biotechnology Journal, http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/biot.202000066