Bio-inspired Solar Energy
The process of photosynthesis, which plants use to turn the sun’s energy into fuel, has been optimized over billions of years of evolution. The Bio-inspired Solar Energy program looks to biology for inspiration on how to create better ways of harvesting light energy, transporting it, and storing it.
RESEARCH AND SOCIETAL IMPACT HIGHLIGHTS
A flow cell inspired by natural systems
Fellow Christopher Chang (University of California, Berkeley) and Program Co-Director Curtis Berlinguette completed a CIFAR Catalyst Fund project that drew inspiration from the photosynthetic capabilities of the leaf. Their teams developed an artificial system that mimics principles of this natural system to produce valuable carbon-based products from CO2.
Improving product selectivity when converting CO2 into useful byproducts
One of the outstanding challenges in closing the loop on a carbon-neutral energy economy is the efficient conversion of CO2 into fuels and chemicals, using electricity from renewable resources to drive the reaction. Because CO2 is a very stable molecule, this process requires a catalyst to proceed at a useful rate. So far, most catalysts are unselective, meaning that they produce a number of different chemical products from CO2. Fellow Thomas Mallouk (University of Pennsylvania) has designed membranes that manage the flow of ions in CO2 electrolyzers and control the local microenvironment at the catalyst surface. These membranes enable better selectivity in the conversion of CO2 into useful chemicals and fuels.
Linking carbon dioxide capture and utilization through nature
Program Co-Director Curtis Berlinguette (University of British Columbia) and Advisor Shaffiq Jaffer (Total American Services) worked with industry partners to successfully design an electrolyzer system that can leverage carbonic anhydrase enzymes to catalyze carbon dioxide (CO2) capture into liquid bicarbonate solutions. By leveraging these enzyme-containing solutions, one can bypass energy-intensive CO2 recovery steps that are often required to convert CO2 into value-added products and a path can be developed to reduce atmospheric CO2 concentrations.
New insights into bacterial CO2 utilization
The enzyme carbon monoxide dehydrogenase (CODH) catalyzes the reversible oxidation of carbon monoxide (CO) to CO2 and has attracted interest as a potential catalyst for bioremediation and biofuel production. However, researchers do not have a detailed understanding of how all CODH enzymes capture these gases and direct them to their active sites. A group led by Fellow Catherine Drennan (Howard Hughes Medical Institute, MIT) determined the crystal structure of xenon pressurized CODH from bacteria to provide insight into the channelling of CO to CODH active sites. The team found that this bacterial enzyme has an additional channel that had not previously been observed. These insights may lead to novel approaches in synthetic CO2 utilization systems.
Path to Societal Impact
We invite experts in industry, civil society, healthcare and government to join fellows in our Bio-Inspired Solar Energy program for in-depth, cross-sectoral conversations that drive change and innovation.
Experts from industry and government laboratories and CIFAR fellows in the Bio-Inspired Solar Energy program are developing highly efficient carbon dioxide electrolyzers that can mitigate climate change.
Areas of focus:
- Understanding the chemical processes and equipment needed to generate feedstock chemicals from carbon dioxide
- Developing highly efficient, stable, and scalable carbon dioxide electrolyzers
Founded
2014
Renewal Dates
2020
Supporters
Arthur J.E. Child Foundation, Chisholm Thomson Family Foundation, The George Cedric Metcalf Charitable Foundation, Gerald Heffernan, McLean Group, RBC Foundation, Trottier Family Foundation
Interdisciplinary Collaboration
Chemistry
Materials Science
Biophysics
Physics
Engineering
Biology
Data Science
Biochemistry
Machine Learning
Robotics
CIFAR Contact
Fellows & Advisors
Program Directors
Alán Aspuru-Guzik
Program Co-Director
Canada CIFAR AI Chair
Lebovic Fellow
Pan-Canadian AI Strategy
Vector Institute
Curtis P. Berlinguette
Program Co-Director
Fellows
Alán Aspuru-Guzik
Program Co-Director
Canada CIFAR AI Chair
Lebovic Fellow
Pan-Canadian AI Strategy
Vector Institute
Christopher J. Chang
Fellow
Michelle Chang
Fellow
Matthew Kanan
Fellow
Thomas Mallouk
Fellow
Aleksandra Vojvodic
Trottier Family Foundation Fellow
Advisors
Fraser Armstrong
Advisor
Richard Cogdell
Advisory Committee Chair
Shaffiq Jaffer
Advisor
CIFAR Azrieli Global Scholars
Chibueze Amanchukwu
CIFAR Azrieli Global Scholars 2022-2024
Ariel Furst
CIFAR Azrieli Global Scholars 2022-2024
Nathaniel Gabor
CIFAR Azrieli Global Scholar 2017-2019
Ximin He
CIFAR Azrieli Global Scholar 2019-2021
Prineha Narang
CIFAR Azrieli Global Scholar 2018-2020
Eva Nichols
CIFAR Azrieli Global Scholars 2022-2024
Gabriela Schlau-Cohen
CIFAR Azrieli Global Scholar 2016-2018
Yogesh Surendranath
CIFAR Azrieli Global Scholar 2018-2020
Haotian Wang
CIFAR Azrieli Global Scholar 2019-2021
Jeffrey J. Warren
CIFAR Azrieli Global Scholar 2016-2018
Jenny Yang
CIFAR Azrieli Global Scholar 2018-2020
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CIFAR is a registered charitable organization supported by the governments of Canada, Alberta and Quebec, as well as foundations, individuals, corporations and Canadian and international partner organizations.