Bionic Leaf

The Bionic Leaf is a biomimetic system that gathers solar energy via photovoltaic cells that can be stored or used in a number of different functions.

It merged the concept of the artificial leaf with genetically engineered bacteria that feed on the hydrogen and convert CO2 in the air into alcohol fuels or chemicals.

Using a catalyst, the Bionic Leaf can remove excess carbon dioxide in the air and convert that to useful alcohol fuels, like isopropanol and isobutanol.

When the catalysts of the Bionic Leaf are coupled with the bacterium Ralstonia eutropha, this results in a hybrid system capable of carbon dioxide fixation.

[7][8] Early results from Dan Nocera, a researcher at Harvard University, gave insight on how his newly created bionic leaf can be used for fertilizer production.

[14] This new bionic leaf uses photovoltaic cells in conjunction with Xanthobacter autotrophicus bacteria to create a plastic called polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB).

The bionic leaf must still pass an environmental impact study in order to determine if this bacteria is safe to release into the wild.

[18] X. autotrophicus cells act as a living bio-fertilizer due to their ability to directly promote plant growth when applied to organic material.

[3] The bionic leaf can eliminate 180 grams of carbon dioxide out of 230,000 liters of air for each kilowatt hour of energy it consumes.

[2] Unlike their natural counterpart, bionic facades require less costly maintenance (irrigation, fertilization, pest-control) and can be potentially adjusted to external conditions like the changing of seasons.

[23] The general structure of the bionic leaves used for these experiments can be characterized as a photovoltaic (PV) cell or plate resistive heater backed with a ceramic evaporative matrix.

The cooling effect paired with the electricity output of the bionic facade showed a CO2 emissions reduction that was 25 times greater than the daily average CO2 consumption of the ivy wall.