Successfully developed compounds that absorb CO2 faster than trees

Plants are one of the key factors that help to limit global warming caused by carbon dioxide, but with relatively slow absorption rates, scientists are developing a possible compound. absorbed faster than plants to quickly recover the climate back to the old state.

Plants help absorb CO2, which is what we all know, even plants can absorb about 25% of CO 2 emissions that humans produce to serve photosynthesis and growth. The biggest problem, however, is that the efficiency of CO2 absorption and conversion into energy is quite slow. So is there any way to speed up this process?

Concerned with the above question, a research team in Germany developed a synthetic system to turn CO 2 into organic compounds, called fixed carbon, significantly faster than self- contained methods. Naturally and more energy efficient.

Picture 1 of Successfully developed compounds that absorb CO2 faster than trees
A research team in Germany has developed a synthetic system to turn CO 2 into organic compounds.

According to ScienceAlert, when plants absorb carbon and start the Calvin cycle - the second stage of photosynthesis, an enzyme called RuBissCo helps catalyze carbon-turning reactions into glucose for growing plants. .

But the drawback of this process is that the conversion speed is too slow . According to research leader Tobias Erb from Max Planck Terrestrial Creativity Research Institute, RuBisCO's catalytic reaction is quite slow, but RuBisCO almost holds the "key" of the whole process. That's not to mention, RuBisCO also causes a slow absorption of carbon by mixing together CO 2 and O 2 .

To test the ability to create an artificial system that can accelerate the process of photosynthesis and carbon sequestration, Erb's team found and filtered out about 40,000 types of enzymes known in nature. Some enzymes are found in the human body and intestinal bacteria, others come from plants, bacteria that live in oceans and plant surfaces.

Picture 2 of Successfully developed compounds that absorb CO2 faster than trees
RuBisCO's catalytic reaction is quite slow, but RuBisCO almost holds the "key" of the whole process.

After successful synthesis, scientists have found about 17 different types of enzymes of 9 different organisms and living organisms. The group continues to modulate them into a new 11-step system that can recreate the Calvin cycle with much higher efficiency.

These enzymes belong to a group called ECRs . This is an enzyme group that is able to accelerate the absorption of CO 2 by 20% faster than most similar enzymes in nature. Erb estimates that ECRs can boost carbon absorption cycles 2-3 times faster than plants. But Erb admitted, these are just speculations and can only be verified by many studies in the future.

Picture 3 of Successfully developed compounds that absorb CO2 faster than trees
The enzyme ECRs are capable of accelerating the absorption of CO 2 by 20% faster than most similar enzymes in nature.

However, if scientists can find a way to incorporate this fixed synthetic carbon cycle into plants or some species of organisms capable of absorbing CO2, this could be a big step in the fight against climate change and global warming of humanity.