Lignin-fueled photoelectrochemical platform for light-driven redox biotransformation

Abstract

The valorization of lignin has significant potential in producing commodity chemicals and fuels from renewable resources. However, the catalytic degradation of lignin is kinetically challenging and often requires noble metal catalysts to be used under harsh and toxic conditions. Here, we report the bias-free, solar reformation of lignin coupled with redox biotransformation in a tandem structure of a BiVO₄ photoanode and perovskite photovoltaic. The tandem structure compensates for the potential gap between lignin oxidation and biocatalytic reduction through artificial Z-schematic absorption. We found that the BiVO₄-catalyzed photoelectrochemical oxidation of lignin facilitated the fragmentation of higher molecular weight lignin into smaller carboxylated aliphatic and aromatic acids. Lignin oxidation induced photocurrent generation at the photoanode, which enabled efficient electroenzymatic reactions at the cathode. This study successfully demonstrates the oxidative valorization of lignin as well as biocatalytic reductions (e.g., CO₂-to-formate and α-ketoglutarate-to-L-glutamate) in an unbiased biocatalytic PEC platform, which provides a new strategic approach for photo-biocatalysis using naturally abundant renewable resources.