Scientists claim that bacterial genes contain the secret of turning air into electricity.
Scientists isolated an enzyme that allows some bacteria to consume hydrogen and extract energy from it, and found that it can produce electricity directly when exposed to even a small amount of hydrogen. This enzyme could have significant potential to power small sustainable pneumatic devices in the future.
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It may seem surprising, but during difficult times, when there is no other food available, some soil bacteria can consume the hydrogen of the air as an energy source. In fact, bacteria remove 70 million tons of hydrogen from the atmosphere every year, and this process literally shapes the composition of the air we breathe.
The secret to turning air into electricity
Inspired by this discovery, the scientists analyzed the genetic code of a soil bacterium called Mycobacterium smegmatis, which consumes hydrogen from the air.
These genes lay the blueprint for creating a molecular machine responsible for consuming hydrogen and converting it into energy for bacteria. This machine is an enzyme called “hydrogenase” and the scientists named it “Hak” for short.
Hydrogen is the simplest molecule, consisting of two hydrogen atoms held together by a bond formed by two negatively charged electrons. Hack breaks this bond, the protons move apart, and the electrons are released.
In bacteria, these free electrons then enter a complex circuit called the “electron transport chain” and are used to provide energy to the cell.
Flowing electrons are what electricity is made of, which means that Hack directly converts hydrogen into electric current.
Hydrogen makes up only 0.00005 percent of the atmosphere. The consumption of this gas at such low concentrations is a challenge that no known catalyst can solve. In addition, oxygen, which is plentiful in the atmosphere, poisons the activity of most catalysts that consume hydrogen.
Isolation of an enzyme that allows bacteria to live in the air
The scientists wanted to know how Hack coped with these problems, so they decided to isolate him from M. smegmatis cells.
The process for doing this was complex. They first modified the M. smegmatis genes that allow the bacteria to produce this enzyme. In doing so, the scientists added a specific chemical sequence to Hack, allowing them to isolate it from M. smegmatis cells.
It wasn’t easy to see Hack. It took several years and many experimental dead ends before scientists finally isolated a high-quality sample of the original enzyme.
However, the hard work was worth it as the Hack they ended up producing is very stable. It withstands temperatures from 80℃ to -80℃ without loss of activity.
Molecular blueprint for extracting hydrogen from air
Having isolated Hack, scientists began to study it seriously in order to find out what exactly this enzyme is capable of. How can he turn the hydrogen in the air into a sustainable source of electricity?
Remarkably, they found that even when isolated from bacteria, Hak can consume hydrogen in concentrations much smaller than even tiny traces in the air. In fact, Hak was still absorbing hydrogen odors too faint to be detected by the gas chromatograph, the highly sensitive instrument scientists use to measure the concentration of the gas.
They also found that Xac is not completely inhibited by oxygen, which is not seen with other hydrogen consuming catalysts.
To evaluate its ability to convert hydrogen into electricity, scientists used a technique called electrochemistry. This showed that Hack could convert tiny concentrations of hydrogen in the air directly into electricity, which could power an electrical circuit. This is a remarkable and unprecedented achievement for a hydrogen consuming catalyst.
Next, several advanced methods were used to study how Hack does this at the molecular level. These include advanced microscopy (cryogenic electron microscopy) and spectroscopy to determine its atomic structure and electrical pathways, pushing the boundaries to obtain the highest resolution enzyme structure ever reported by this method.
Enzymes could use air to power devices in the future
This research is just beginning, and several technical issues need to be addressed to realize the potential of Hack.
First, it will be necessary to significantly increase the scale of production of Haq. In the lab, scientists produce Hack in milligram quantities, but want to scale it down to grams and eventually kilograms.
However, their work demonstrates that Hack functions as a “natural battery”, producing a constant electric current from air or added hydrogen. As a result, Haq has significant potential to develop small sustainable air-powered devices as an alternative to solar energy.
The amount of energy released by hydrogen in the air would be small, but probably enough to power a biometric monitor, a clock, an LED globe, or a simple computer. With more hydrogen, Hack produces more electricity and can potentially power larger devices.
Another application would be the development of Haq-based bioelectric sensors for hydrogen detection, which could be incredibly sensitive. The hack may be indispensable for detecting leaks in the infrastructure of our booming hydrogen economy or in medical facilities.
“In short, this study shows how a fundamental discovery about how bacteria in the soil feed can lead to a rethinking of the chemistry of life. Ultimately, this may also lead to the development of future technologies,” the scientists concluded.
Earlier, Focus wrote about why the production of thermonuclear energy was delayed for years. The deadline for creating the plasma needed for fusion to produce nearly limitless energy has been pushed back.
