Researchers at ETH Zurich have developed an astonishing new material not only grows but also removes CO2 from the air – not once, but twice over. This breakthrough could provide invaluable opportunities as the world faces dramatically increased carbon dioxide levels due to climate change.
The new material is made using a printable gel, which can be shaped using 3D printing and requires only sunlight and artificial seawater in order to grow. This is then incorporated with a photosynthetic bacteria, known as cyanobacteria – which then creates a “photosynthetic living material”.
“Cyanobacteria are among the oldest life forms in the world,” says Yifan Cui, co-lead author of the study, in the paper published in Nature Communications. “They are highly efficient at photosynthesis and can utilise even the weakest light to produce biomass from CO₂ and water.”
This fascinating new material was created by a team at ETH, a university in Zurich, who worked together to combine conventional materials with bacteria, algae and fungi, in order to create living materials that acquire useful properties – in this instance, the ability to bind carbon dioxide from the air by means of photosynthesis.
“As a building material, it could help to store CO2 directly in buildings in the future,” said ETH Professor Mark Tibbitt, who leads the Macromolecular Engineering group and helped launch the research into living materials at ETH Zurich.
At the Venice Architecture Biennale, visitors to the Canada Pavilion will witness the pioneering new material in action at Picoplanktonics (above), an installation of tree-like columns made with the new material. Each of the three-metre-tall plinths can absorb as much carbon a year as a 20-year-old pine tree.
- What does chlorophyll do? Why this molecule is vital to life on earth – and how it makes plants appear green
- Separating fact from fiction: polar bears and climate change
Top image: Picoplanktonics shows large-format objects made of photosynthetic structures. Credit: Valentina Mori/ Biennale di Venezia