Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Schuhmann

Public university with strong focus on environmental, engineering and life sciences research.

Public university emphasizing research and innovation across sciences, technology, and social sciences.

Education and Research

Bio‑photovoltaic systems for green hydrogen are device concepts that use photosynthetic organisms or biohybrids as the light‑harvesting and catalytic components to convert solar energy directly into chemical fuels such as hydrogen, often by integrating living cells, enzymes, or pigments with electrodes.[1][2] The studied cyanobacterial‑polymer‑electrode platform is presented as a step toward bio‑photovoltaic systems where sunlight, water, and CO₂ are used by living cyanobacteria to generate hydrogen continuously, combining biological self‑repair with electrochemical control.[1][2]

Photosynthetic hydrogen production using cyanobacteria harnesses these microorganisms’ natural ability to use light energy to split water, channeling some of the resulting electrons to hydrogenase or nitrogenase enzymes that reduce protons to molecular hydrogen, effectively turning sunlight, water, and CO₂ into a storable fuel.[1][2] In the reported study, cyanobacteria are used as living catalysts in an electrochemical device where their photosynthetic machinery provides electrons to hydrogenases under conditions that maintain enzyme activity, enabling sustained hydrogen evolution.[1][2]

The Photosystem I–hydrogenase fusion is a genetic engineering strategy in which a hydrogenase enzyme is covalently linked to a component of Photosystem I, enabling direct transfer of photosynthetic electrons to hydrogenase and thereby enhancing light‑driven hydrogen production.[1][2] In the reported system, cyanobacterial mutants expressing such a fusion showed significantly longer and more stable hydrogen production compared with wild‑type cells when immobilized in the protective redox polymer matrix.[1][2]

Hesse (University of Kassel) and North Rhine-Westphalia (Ruhr-Universität Bochum)