SMRTR Science & EngineeringMay 27, 2026Interesting Engineering

Smart polymer shields blue-green algae from oxygen to generate hydrogen fuel at scale

SMRTR summary

Cyanobacteria, known for producing oxygen through photosynthesis, can also generate hydrogen fuel — but that same oxygen destroys the enzymes needed for hydrogen production. Researchers from Germany and Portugal solved this by embedding cyanobacteria in a redox polymer on an electrode that removes oxygen locally, protecting the enzymes. Genetically modified strains linked to Photosystem I produced hydrogen even more consistently, pointing toward scalable, biology-based clean energy systems.

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