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Biocatalytic Processes: A Multidisciplinary Platform for Future Biorefineries and Energy...
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Biocatalytic Processes: A Multidisciplinary Platform for Future Biorefineries and Energy Conversion Systems

A special issue of Catalysts (ISSN 2073-4344). This special issue belongs to the section "Biocatalysis".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 December 2023) | Viewed by 4934

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Katharina Herkendell

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Distributed Energy Systems, Energy Process Technology, Friedrich-Alexander-University of Erlangen Nuremberg (FAU), 91054 Erlangen, Germany
Interests: bioelectrocatalysis; electrode engineering with bio-nano hybrid structures distributed energy process engineering; enzymatic fuel cells; future energy systems; circular bioeconomy; waste valorization
Dr. Marianna Villano

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Chemistry, Sapienza University of Rome, P.le Aldo Moro 5, 00185 Rome, Italy
Interests: mixed microbial cultures; polyhydroxyalkanoates production; anaerobic digestion; acidogenic fermentation; microbial electrochemical technologies; electro-fermentation
Prof. Dr. Dana Akilbekova

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering, School of Engineering and Digital Sciences, Nazarbayev University, Nur-Sultan 010000, Kazakhstan
Interests: biosensing; biomechanics; biomedical engineering; novel materials
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Applied biocatalytic processes play a growing role in global material and energy cycles. To date, it is yet to be determined how the diversity of biocatalysts employed in laboratory scale experimentation of energy conversion systems and resource recovery processes will affect the future bioeconomy. Nevertheless, current attempts and advances to integrate biocatalysts with distributed energy systems and developing biorefineries, as well as to combine disciplines such as bioelectrochemistry, process engineering, and power/waste-to-x technologies, are plentiful and outline a promising path to follow.

Among these, the development of tools enabling a cleaner and more efficient exploitation of organic wastes, sewage sludge, or lignocellulosic biomass, as well as harnessing alternative catalytic systems from renewable resources are exciting directions that call for further research activity.

In this Special Issue, we aim to highlight the most recent innovations in biocatalytic approaches for advanced energy conversion and biomass valorization. This includes, but is clearly not limited to, microbial or enzymatic processes that facilitate (i) usage and storage of excess renewable electricity as biofuels or value-added chemicals; (ii) sustainable and distributed power generation; (iii) resource bio-recovery from waste streams. We are looking forward to discussing the chances offered by sustainably sourced catalysts and bioreactor components, and accomplishments in the field of biocatalytic tool development.

Prof. Dr. Katharina Herkendell
Prof. Dr. Marianna Villano
Prof. Dr. Dana Akilbekova
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Catalysts is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • biocatalysis
  • bioeconomy
  • waste valorization
  • distributed energy systems
  • power-to-x
  • enzyme technology
  • microbial energy conversion
  • bioenergy
  • microbial electrochemical technologies
  • bioelectrosynthesis
  • value-added-chemicals
  • acidogenic fermentation
  • methanogenesis

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

14 pages, 2574 KiB  
Article
Groundwater Bioremediation through Reductive Dechlorination in a Permeable Bioelectrochemical Reactor
by Geremia Sassetto, Laura Lorini, Agnese Lai, Marco Petrangeli Papini and Marco Zeppilli
Catalysts 2024, 14(3), 208; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/catal14030208 - 20 Mar 2024
Viewed by 699
Abstract
A new membrane-less bioelectrochemical reactor configuration was developed for contaminated groundwater remediation. The new bioelectrochemical reactor configuration was inspired by the utilisation of a permeable reactive barrier (PBR) configuration with no separation membrane. The corresponding reactive zones were created by using graphite granules [...] Read more.
A new membrane-less bioelectrochemical reactor configuration was developed for contaminated groundwater remediation. The new bioelectrochemical reactor configuration was inspired by the utilisation of a permeable reactive barrier (PBR) configuration with no separation membrane. The corresponding reactive zones were created by using graphite granules and mixed metal oxide (MMO) electrodes to stimulate the reductive and oxidative biological degradation of chlorinated aliphatic hydrocarbons. In the present study, the PBR-like bioelectrochemical reactor has been preliminarily operated with synthetic contaminated groundwater, testing the reductive dechlorination activity on cis-dichloroethylene (cisDCE). Moreover, to assess the effects of competing anions presence for the electron donor (i.e., the cathode), the synthetic wastewater contained sulphate and nitrate anions. In the PBR-like reactor operation, nearly all cisDCE was removed in the initial sampling port, with only VC detected as the observable RD product. During the same biotic test of the PRB reactor, the presence of both the reductive dechlorination and anions reduction was confirmed by the complete nitrate reduction in the cathodic chamber of the PRB reactor. On the contrary, sulphate reduction showed a lower activity; indeed, only 25% of the influent sulphate was removed by the PRB reactor. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biocatalytic Processes: A Multidisciplinary Platform for Future Biorefineries and Energy Conversion Systems)
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20 pages, 3196 KiB  
Article
Sustainably Sourced Mesoporous Carbon Molecular Sieves as Immobilization Matrices for Enzymatic Biofuel Cell Applications
by Federica Torrigino, Marcel Nagel, Zhujun Peng, Martin Hartmann and Katharina Herkendell
Catalysts 2023, 13(11), 1415; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/catal13111415 - 04 Nov 2023
Viewed by 1354
Abstract
Ordered mesoporous carbon CMK-3 sieves with a hexagonal structure and uniform pore size have recently emerged as promising materials for applications as adsorbents and electrodes. In this study, using sucrose as the sustainable carbon source and SBA-15 as a template, CMK-3 sieves are [...] Read more.
Ordered mesoporous carbon CMK-3 sieves with a hexagonal structure and uniform pore size have recently emerged as promising materials for applications as adsorbents and electrodes. In this study, using sucrose as the sustainable carbon source and SBA-15 as a template, CMK-3 sieves are synthesized to form bioelectrocatalytic immobilization matrices for enzymatic biofuel cell (EFC) electrodes. Their electrochemical performance, capacitive features, and the stability of enzyme immobilization are analyzed and compared to commercially available multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNT) using cyclic voltammetry and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). The anodic reaction in the presence of glucose oxidase (GOx) and ferrocene methanol (FcMeOH) on the sustainably sourced CMK-3-based electrodes produces bioelectrocatalytic current responses at 0.5 V vs. saturated calomel electrode (SCE) that are twice as high as on the MWCNT-based electrodes under saturated glucose conditions. For the cathodic reaction, the MWCNT-based cathode performs marginally better than the CMK-3-based electrodes in the presence of bilirubin oxidase (BOD) and 2,2′-azino-bis (3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) (ABTS2−). The CMK-3-based EFCs assembled from the GOx anode and BOD cathode results in a power output of 93 μW cm−2. In contrast, the output power of MWCNT-based EFCs is approximately 53 μW cm−2. The efficiency of CMK-3 as a support material for biofuel cell applications is effectively demonstrated. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biocatalytic Processes: A Multidisciplinary Platform for Future Biorefineries and Energy Conversion Systems)
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12 pages, 2144 KiB  
Article
Improving the Kinetics of H2-Fueled Biological Methanation with Quinone-Based Redox Mediators
by Matteo Tucci, Simone Colantoni, Carolina Cruz Viggi and Federico Aulenta
Catalysts 2023, 13(5), 859; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/catal13050859 - 09 May 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1397
Abstract
The biomethanation process involves the conversion of CO2 into a valuable energy carrier (i.e., methane) by methanogenic archaea. Since it can be operated at mild conditions, it is more sustainable than traditional chemical approaches. Nevertheless, the efficacy of biomethanation is limited by [...] Read more.
The biomethanation process involves the conversion of CO2 into a valuable energy carrier (i.e., methane) by methanogenic archaea. Since it can be operated at mild conditions, it is more sustainable than traditional chemical approaches. Nevertheless, the efficacy of biomethanation is limited by the low kinetics of the microbiological reaction and the poor solubility of H2 in water. Herein, the effect of soluble (i.e., AQDS) and insoluble (i.e., biochar) quinone-based redox mediators on the kinetics of H2-fueled biological methanation in bench-scale microcosms was investigated. Microcosms were set up in 120 mL serum bottles and were initially inoculated with a methanogenic sludge deriving from a lab-scale anaerobic digester treating food waste. As a result, the kinetics of H2 consumption and CH4 generation were greatly increased (p < 0.05) in presence of AQDS as compared to the control, accounting for up to +160% and +125% in the last experimental cycle, respectively. These findings could be explained by a two-step mechanism, whereby microbes used H2 to quickly reduce AQDS into the highly soluble AH2QDS, which in turn served as a more efficient electron donor for methanogenesis. In contrast, the used biochar had apparently an adverse effect on the biomethanation process. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biocatalytic Processes: A Multidisciplinary Platform for Future Biorefineries and Energy Conversion Systems)
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