Dual carbon sequestration with photosynthetic living materials

Dalia Dranseike, Yifan Cui, Andrea S. Ling, Felix Donat, Stéphane Bernhard, Margherita Bernero, Akhil Areeckal, Marco Lazic, Xiao-Hua Qin, John S. Oakey, Benjamin Dillenburger, André R. Studart and Mark W. Tibbitt ()
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Dalia Dranseike: ETH Zurich
Yifan Cui: ETH Zurich
Andrea S. Ling: ETH Zurich
Felix Donat: ETH Zurich
Stéphane Bernhard: ETH Zurich
Margherita Bernero: ETH Zurich
Akhil Areeckal: ETH Zurich
Marco Lazic: ETH Zurich
Xiao-Hua Qin: ETH Zurich
John S. Oakey: University of Wyoming
Benjamin Dillenburger: ETH Zurich
André R. Studart: ETH Zurich
Mark W. Tibbitt: ETH Zurich

Nature Communications, 2025, vol. 16, issue 1, 1-13

Abstract: Abstract Natural ecosystems efficiently sequester CO2 but containing and controlling living systems remains challenging. Here, we engineer a photosynthetic living material for dual CO2 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 CO2 per gram of hydrogel material over 30 days and 26 ± 7 mg of CO2 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 CO2 mitigation.

Date: 2025
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-58761-y

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