Coupling Photocatalytic Reduction and Biosynthesis Towards Sustainable CO2 Upcycling

Abstract Upcycling carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) into long‐chain compounds has attracted considerable attention with respect to mitigating environmental problems and obtaining value‐added feedstocks, but remains a great challenge. Herein, we report a tandem photocatalysis‐biosynthesis strategy for efficient CO 2 reduction to energy‐rich sucrose or α‐farnesene. Firstly, photocatalytic reduction of CO 2 to CH 4 was optimized over the transitional metal doped ZnO (M−ZnO). The as‐prepared Ni−ZnO preferentially reduces CO 2 to CH 4 with a production rate of 1539.1 μmol g −1 h −1 and a selectivity of 90 %, owing to the unique interface structure (Zn δ + −O−Ni β + ). Subsequently, Methylomicrobium buryatense 5GB1C was genetically engineered to produce sucrose or α‐farnesene using photocatalytically‐obtained CH 4 as the sole carbon source, with a titer of 96.3 and 43.9 mg L −1 , respectively. This study provides a green, low‐energy pathway for the synthesis of long‐chain compounds from CO 2 as the carbon source, which sheds new light on tackling long‐term energy demands and sustainable CO 2 upcycling.