SherboLab
Research
Electrochemical N2 reduction
The Haber-Bosch process used to make ammonia from nitrogen and hydrogen gas, using 1.8% of our global energy and producing 1.2% of our waste CO2 gas. We are looking for ways to reduce nitrogen using electricity and water instead of the high temperatures and pressures and fossil-fuel derived gases that are traditionally used.
Microbial food production
Animal and plant agricultural food sources are large contributors to climate change and environmental decline. Microbes are an alternative food source that require less land, water, and minimize environmental contamination. We study and engineer microbes that can be grown on CO2 as the sole carbon source, N2 as the sole nitrogen source, and electrolytically-produced H2 as the energy source to enable the production of microbial food products from only gases, water and electricity.
Electrochemical microbial growth
Many microbes can grow on CO2 as their sole carbon source to upgrade this waste gas to more valuable products. These microbes can also use sunlight as a clean energy source, however natural photosynthesis is very inefficient, and much of the light energy is lost. Instead, we grow organisms that use H2 produced from water and electricity as an energy source to increase the growth efficiency of these organisms. We examine how electrochemistry used to form H2 can be interfaced with microbial growth to enable the organisms to grow faster and to higher densities.
