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

Researchers in Germany and Portugal embedded cyanobacteria in an oxygen-scavenging redox polymer on an electrode to protect hydrogenase during photosynthesis.

The setup extended hydrogen production by reducing oxygen interference, a major obstacle for biological hydrogen fuel systems.

Engineered cells that linked hydrogenase more closely to Photosystem I further boosted output.

The work, published in Angewandte Chemie International Edition, points to a more practical route for scalable clean hydrogen generation.