Establishing jet loop reactors as scalable bioelectrochemical reactor systems for anodic and cathodic production processes

生物电化学反应器系统具有典型的表面限制。每反应器体积的电极表面积是提高时空产率的关键。同时，电极表面和在电极上形成生物膜的电活性生物必须被视为一种复合材料，就其组分的相互作用而言，这种复合材料是先进的。最后但并非最不重要的是，以一种避免死体积的方式构建这些依赖于表面的反应器系统，并将活的全细胞生物催化剂的结构引向工艺优化，这是一项挑战。为了解决这些问题，我们将设计一个可扩展的生物电化学喷射回路反应器概念，并将通过将其作为微生物电解和生物电合成平台来展示其多功能性。在生物电合成的研究方向上，我们将与最近分离的嗜极菌孢球菌（Kyrpidia spormannii）一起操作，以二氧化碳和电能为原料生产生物质和生物聚合物聚羟基丁酸酯。在微生物电解的研究方向上，我们将通过合成导电纳米线以及导电的细胞-细胞直接连接来提高反应器的性能。为此，我们将使用希瓦氏菌和目前开发的大肠杆菌菌株作为模式生物，在阳极辅助发酵中生产平台化学乙酰素。在这两种反应器配置中，我们将能够受益于3d电极的增材制造以及导电聚合物的功能化。

Bioelectrochemical reactor systems are typically surface limited. It is the amount of electrode surface area per reactor volume that is key for advancing space-time-yields. At the same time the electrode surface and the electroactive organisms building a biofilm on the electrodes have to be seen as one composite material that can be advanced regarding the interaction of its components. Last but not least it is challenging to construct these surface dependent reactor systems in a way that dead volumes are avoided and the architecture of the living whole cell biocatalyst is steered towards process optimization. To address these topics we will engineer a scalable bioelectrochemical jet loop reactor concept and will show its versatility by operating it as microbial electrolysis as well as bioelectrosynthesis platform. In the bioelectrosynthesis research direction we will operate it with the recently isolated extremophile Kyrpidia spormannii and aim to produce biomass and the biopolymer polyhydroxybutyrate from carbon dioxide and electrical energy. In the microbial electrolysis research direction, we will increase reactor performance by producing synthetic conductive nanowires as well as conductive direct cell-cell connections. To this end we will use Shewanella oneidensis as well as a currently developed Escherichia coli strain as model organism and produce the platform chemical acetoin in an anode assisted fermentation. In both reactor configurations we will be able to benefit from additive manufacturing of 3D-electrodes as well as their functionalization by conductive polymers.