Dual carbon sequestration with photosynthetic living materials

Abstract

Abstract Natural ecosystems efficiently sequester CO 2 but containing and controlling living systems remains challenging. Here, we engineer a photosynthetic living material for dual CO 2 sequestration that leverages biomass production and insoluble carbonate formation via microbially induced carbonate precipitation (MICP). To achieve this, we immobilize photosynthetic microorganisms within a printable polymeric network. Digital design and fabrication of the living structures ensure sufficient light access and nutrient supply to encapsulated cyanobacteria, enabling long-term culture for over a year. We showcase that photosynthetic living materials are able to sequester 2.2 ± 0.9 mg of CO 2 per gram of hydrogel material over 30 days and 26 ± 7 mg of CO 2 over 400 days. These findings highlight the potential of photosynthetic living materials for scalable, low-maintenance carbon sequestration with applications in carbon-neutral infrastructure and CO 2 mitigation.