Methanol Production via Bioelectrocatalytic Reduction of Carbon Dioxide: Role of Carbonic Anhydrase in Improving Electrode Performance

Electrocatalytic production of methanol from CO 2 has recently been studied. This paper focuses on understanding the role of carbonic anhydrase to efficiently facilitate uptake of CO 2 , which can be the rate determining step. The three oxidoreductase enzymes responsible for CO 2 reduction to methanol are formate, aldehyde, and alcohol dehydrogenase. This enzyme cascade was coupled to a poly(neutral red) modified electrode to regenerate NADH. We have found that the dehydrogenases alone can achieve reduction of CO 2 , but the process is accelerated by the addition of carbonic anhydrase. As researchers focus on electrofuels, carbonic anhydrase will likely improve performance.