Biohybrid Photosynthetic Living Materials and Devices

Repurposing biology for technology is one of the pathways for a sustainable future reducing synthetic waste and carbon emissions. The integration of living components directly in materials and devices opens new possibilities for energy efficient, sustainable materials that are dynamic and responsive. Previously we leveraged the biocatalytic machinery of plants for in-vivo fabrication of functional electrochemical components. Specifically, we demonstrated that plants can polymerize conjugated oligomers in-vivo forming conductors within their structure. We showed that the polymerization is enzymatically catalyzed by endogenous peroxidases, and we developed a series of conjugated oligomers that can be enzymatically polymerized in physiological conditions. The conjugated polyelectrolytes integrate within the plant cell wall adding electronic functionality into the plant that is then explored for energy storage. We also demonstrated intact plants with electronic roots that continue to grow enabling plant-biohybrid systems that maintain fully their biological processes. The electronic roots were used to build biodegradable supercapacitors and biohybrid circuits to power low consumption electrochemical devices. Apart from augmenting plants with non-native functionality we are also interested in using synthetic materials for enhancing plant processes. Photosynthesis is the process that drives life on Earth and is vital for CO₂ capture. We developed polyethyleneimine-based nanoparticles that enhance photosynthetic biochemical reactions in-vitro while in-vivo enhance plants CO₂ capture ability. Our latest work extends these concepts to plant components combined with additive manufacturing for producing custom made sustainable photosynthetic living materials.