ART-2-HYDROGEN – Enzimi artificiali per la produzione fotocatalitica di idrogeno in batteri fotosintetici

Funder: Project funded under the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP), Mission 2 – Component 2 – Investment 3.5 - Call for tender No. 4 of 23/03/2022 of Italian Ministry of Ecologic Transition by the European Union – NextGenerationEU

Award Number: Project code RSH2A_000009 , Concession Decree No. 445 of 29/12/2022 adopted by the Italian Ministry of Ecological Transition, CUP F97G22000270006, Project title “Enzimi artificiali per la produzione fotocatalitica di idrogeno in batteri fotosintetici” (ART-2-HYDROGEN)

Start date: 01/02/2023

End date: 31/12/2025

Total NRRP funding for Unipr: 2.142.500,00 €

Objectives

The efficiency of hydrogen production through electrolysers is limited by low thermodynamic efficiency, leading to a disproportion between the energy stored in hydrogen and the energy consumed in its production. This project aims to overcome challenges linked to the use of natural enzymes (hydrogenases) in hydrogen production. The objective is to leverage established protein design strategies to create a system capable of photostimulated hydrogen reduction. The project encompasses three key innovations:

• Implementation of artificial enzymes
• Hydrogen production in the extracellular space
• Development of a system completely free from reliance on electricity, chemical reductants, or any energy sources other than solar energy

Activities

Conducted at the Department of Chemistry, Life Sciences and Environmental Sustainability, the project will leverage the institution's finest technologies, expertise, scientific knowledge, equipment, and management structure. Ultimately, the project seeks to achieve a proof of concept and a functional small-scale prototype device. Its activities are designed to overcome the limitations (identified in existing literature) and establish a proof of concept for the purely photochemical production of hydrogen. Once perfected and implemented on a large scale, this technology could enable efficient and environmentally sustainable hydrogen production.

• Department of Chemistry, Life Sciences and Environmental Sustainability

Anticipated outcomes of the project encompass:

• Development of a laboratory prototype on a small scale capable of producing molecular hydrogen solely through sunlight, without reliance on other energy sources, including electricity
• Surpassing the limits outlined in existing literature for energy self-sufficient biological systems in hydrogen production
• Acquisition of highly viable cultures to facilitate the scalability of the prototype toward industrial-scale hydrogen production

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