domino4chem: Semi-biological Domino Catalysis for Solar Chemical Synthesis

Mitigating CO2 emissions and transitioning to a circular economy are urgent actions to safeguard future generations. Carbon capture and utilisation is a carbon-neutral process to recycle CO2 for the synthesis of valuable molecules and materials powered by renewable energy. The synthesis of fuels from CO2 using sunlight has made significant advances, but major challenges remain.

This project aims to pioneer the controlled synthesis of complex chemicals at high efficiency using sunlight by combining the strength of synthetic and biological technologies. An integrated platform will be developed that incorporates efficient light harvesting by semiconductors to drive a network of synthetic and biological catalysts to convert CO2 to bespoke complex chemical products. This approach enables the efficient use of a wide range of catalysts, including engineered metabolic pathways, to synthesise desired products with a high degree of control. The proposed direct photon-to-chemical conversion technology will provide a general biohybrid platform to synthesise high-value chemicals sustainably from sunlight in the future.