Project R-13283

Sustainable hydrogen production for space applications. (Research)

Space is a hostile environment for all living organisms, with ionizing radiation (IR) being the most detrimental environmental factor, which causes direct and indirect damage to critical cellular components. When deploying bio-based systems in space applications, long-term sustained integrity is crucial, therefore, this research project aims for hydrogen production in a radiation-hard setup, making use of IRresistant cyanobacteria (IRRC) and radiation durable materials. Cyanobacteria produce hydrogen via enzymatic H+ combination, deploying hydrogenases or nitrogenases depending on growth conditions and pathway utilization. They can also be grown as biofilms to produce hydrogen in photoelectrochemical cells (PEC) directly from water. Prime candidates for this idea are strains of Croococcidiopsis, Limnospira, and Anabaena because of their known radiation resistance. The cyanobacteria will be grown on borondoped diamond (BDD) electrodes, which are radiation-resistant. During the research, four main objectives will be completed. The PEC cells with BDD electrodes and cyanobacterial biofilms will be constructed. Subsequently, routes to enhance hydrogen production by IRRC in culture will be investigated. The selected hydrogenproducing cyanobacteria will then be screened for their IR tolerance, and lastly, the selected PEC cell configuration will be validated for its robustness in space at irradiation facilities.

01 November 2022 - 31 October 2026