Hybrid Microbial-Enzymatic Electrosynthesis For De Novo Decanoic Acid Production From CO2

Author

• Yongze Wang
• Wenjin Dong
• Meijing Wei
• Su Song
• Zhiqing Huang
• Yaojie Liu
• Shelley D. Minteer, Missouri University of Science and TechnologyFollow
• Hui Chen

Abstract

The steady increase in atmospheric CO₂ levels is a key driver of anthropogenic climate change, prompting widespread global concern. In this context, the sustainable conversion of CO₂ into value-added chemicals represents an attractive route toward carbon-neutral manufacturing and green chemistry. Here, we developed a proof-of-concept hybrid microbial-enzymatic electrosynthesis system that combines microbial electrosynthesis (MES) and enzymatic electrosynthesis (EES) to convert CO₂ into decanoic acid under ambient conditions, using electrical energy. In the MES module, CO₂ was converted to acetate via the Wood–Ljungdahl pathway of Clostridium ljungdahlii, using H2 produced by electrochemical water splitting as the electron donor. In the downstream EES module, acetate was transformed into acetyl-CoA, which was then elongated to decanoic acid through an in vitro reversed β-oxidation (rBOX) pathway driven by bioelectrocatalytic NADH regeneration. To verify the functional coupling between the two modules, ¹³C isotopic labeling was employed to trace carbon flow from CO₂ to acetate and further to decanoic acid, confirming that MES-derived carbon served directly as the precursor for downstream chain elongation in the EES module. Under optimized conditions, the hybrid MES-EES system produced 0.80 mM decanoic acid with 81.3% specificity. These results demonstrate the successful hybrid of MES and EES, enabling the de novo bio electrosynthesis of decanoic acid from CO₂ and presenting a promising approach for coupling CO₂ resource utilization with renewable electrical energy.

Recommended Citation

Y. Wang et al., "Hybrid Microbial-Enzymatic Electrosynthesis For De Novo Decanoic Acid Production From CO2," Jacs Au, vol. 6, no. 7, pp. 4118 - 4127, American Chemical Society, Jul 2026.

The definitive version is available at https://doi.org/10.1021/jacsau.6c00621

Department(s)

Chemistry

Publication Status

Open Access

Comments

National Science Foundation, Grant 2002158

Keywords and Phrases

CO2conversion; cofactor regeneration; decanoic acid; enzymatic electrosynthesis; microbial electrosynthesis

International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)

2691-3704

Document Type

Article - Journal

Document Version

Final Version

File Type

text

Language(s)

English

Rights

© 2026 American Chemical Society, All rights reserved.

Creative Commons Licensing

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.

Publication Date

27 Jul 2026