Indian-Student In London Develops Carbon-Producing Biomaterial (image@ Prantar Tamuli LinkedIn)
An Indian student, Prantar Tamuli, at University College London (UCL) is working on the construction of new biomaterial that uses living microorganisms to extract carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. The biomaterial said to have potential to dramatically reduce carbon footprint if mass-produced. It can be widely adopted by the building industry.
Tamuli is a Master’s degree student in the Biochemical Engineering Department at UCL. He recently discovered the material as part of an art installation at St Andrews Botanic Garden in Scotland. The biomaterial can incorporate living cyanobacteria into translucent panels that can be mounted on to the interior walls of buildings. As the microorganisms embedded within the panels grow using photosynthesis, they pull carbon dioxide out of the air.
“My aim by developing the C-ELM material is to transform the act of constructing our future human habitats from the biggest carbon-emitting activity to the largest carbon-sequestering one,” said Tamuli.
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He discovered the C-ELM under the guidance of research supervisors during his earlier MSc degree in Bio-Integrated Design. During the COVID-19 lockdown in London, Tamuli developed a new process for culturing the cyanobacteria at his home without access to his lab or conventional equipment.
The captured carbon dioxide is affixed to calcium to create calcium carbonate, locking away the carbon, through the biomineralization process. It said that a kilogram of the biomaterial, known as a cyanobacterial engineered living material or C-ELM, can capture and sequester up to 350g of carbon dioxide.
At the same time, the same amount of traditional concrete would emit as much as 500g of carbon dioxide. This means that a 150 square metre wall cladded with such C-ELM panels could lock away approximately one tonne of carbon dioxide.
“The promise of this kind of biomaterial is tremendous. If mass produced and widely adopted, it could dramatically reduce the carbon footprint of the construction industry. We hope that to scale up the manufacture of this C-ELM and further optimise its performance to be better suited for use in construction,” said Professor Marcos Cruz of UCL Bartlett School of Architecture and co-director of the Bio-Integrated Design Programme, as quoted by media.
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Tamuli said he he was inspired to develop the material by studying stromatolites, natural stony structures formed over millions of years from sediments trapped by some of the Earth’s most ancient living organisms, algal mats. He focused on the species Kamptonema animale, a photosynthetic cyanobacteria which grows in long strands, making it easy to bind the microorganisms to the surrounding material within the panels. The calcium carbonate that the cyanobacteria produce helps to strengthen and reinforce the panels.
The panels designed in a way that would give a range of cosmetic and structural benefits for buildings, as they are lightweight, sound absorbing, translucent enough to transmit light through and thermally insulating so as to enhance the energy efficiency of buildings.
(With inputs from agencies)
