Biomimetic chloroplasts: Two-phase microfluidic platforms with selective permeability for artificial photosynthesis

Abstract

The development of biomimetic chloroplasts offers significant potential in addressing global energy and environmental challenges. Traditional droplet-based models are limited by transmembrane transport inefficiencies, leading to the accumulation of aqueous products that severely hinder reaction performance. In this work, we present a biomimetic chloroplast system that integrates light-dependent and light-independent reactions, reaction compartments, and selectively permeable interfaces, fabricated using a biphasic microfluidic platform. The permeable interface facilitates continuous substrate–product exchange, mitigating product inhibition and side reactions, thus enhancing reaction efficiency. Furthermore, a quartz spiral tube was engineered to amplify Dean vortex effects, improving mass transfer. This system exhibited a nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide regeneration efficiency during light-dependent reactions that was 5.52 times higher than that of conventional slurry reactors. In the light-independent reaction, the energy conversion efficiency for the transformation of α-ketoglutaric acid to L-glutamic acid reached 1.45 times that of natural photosynthesis. As the first comprehensive integration of photosynthetic processes within artificial chloroplasts, this work combines biological mechanisms with engineered components to establish a transformative platform for efficient energy conversion and directional biosynthesis. This breakthrough advances the field of photocatalysis and bioinspired technologies, with wide-reaching implications for sustainable energy and synthetic biology applications.

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RIGHTS & PERMISSIONS

2025 The Author(s). Droplet published by Jilin University and John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd.