Methanol Production via Bioelectrocatalytic Reduction of Carbon Dioxide: Role of Carbonic Anhydrase in Improving Electrode Performance

Abstract

Electrocatalytic production of methanol from CO2 has recently been studied. This paper focuses on understanding the role of carbonic anhydrase to efficiently facilitate uptake of CO2, which can be the rate determining step. The three oxidoreductase enzymes responsible for CO2 reduction to methanol are formate, aldehyde, and alcohol dehydrogenase. This enzyme cascade was coupled to a poly(neutral red) modified electrode to regenerate NADH. We have found that the dehydrogenases alone can achieve reduction of CO2, but the process is accelerated by the addition of carbonic anhydrase. As researchers focus on electrofuels, carbonic anhydrase will likely improve performance.