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Bioelectrochemical Hydrogen Production

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Encyclopedia of Applied Electrochemistry

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Introduction

Uses of hydrogen are manifold ranging from being an important industrial feedstock, a valuable energy carrier, to being a key electron donor for reduction of various oxidized water contaminants [1]. Today, most hydrogen produced is derived from energy-consuming processes based on fossil fuels such as steam reforming from natural gas, as well as from water electrolysis [2]. In contrast, biological hydrogen production from fermentation or photosynthesis provides a sustainable and carbon-neutral source for hydrogen. However, challenges such as low hydrogen yield from fermentation and the need for improved and oxygen tolerant proteins for photosynthetic or enzymatic hydrogen production prevent these approaches from being economically competitive so far.

Bioelectrochemical hydrogen production (“microbial electrolysis” or “biocatalyzed electrolysis”) is a novel biological hydrogen production process, coupling microbiology and electrochemistry, which has attracted a lot of...

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA

    Svenja Lohner

Authors
  1. Svenja Lohner
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Correspondence to Svenja Lohner .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Eppstein, Germany

    Gerhard Kreysa

  2. Yokohama National University, Fac. Engineering, Yokohama, Japan

    Ken-ichiro Ota

  3. Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH, USA

    Robert F. Savinell

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Lohner, S. (2014). Bioelectrochemical Hydrogen Production. In: Kreysa, G., Ota, Ki., Savinell, R.F. (eds) Encyclopedia of Applied Electrochemistry. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-6996-5_248

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