Will create living materials for water purification and carbon fixation

Microorganisms have an amazing ability to drive chemical processes, so researchers have begun to encapsulate them in functional materials. Wallenberg Academy Fellow Mika Sipponen will try to get microbes to thrive in lignin, a waste product from the wood industry. The aim is to produce useful materials with the capacity to do things like purify water or fix carbon dioxide. 

There is an incredible variety of microbes on Earth – algae, yeast cells, fungi and bacteria – that can drive a wide range of advanced chemical processes. In addition to trying to mimic these chemical processes, scientists have started to encapsulate these microbes in what they call living hybrid materials. They have embedded bacteria that can form calcium carbonate in concrete to improve its durability, for example. 

As part of a research program called LignoLife, Dr Mika Sipponen at Stockholm University will investigate whether it is possible to use lignin – a by-product of the pulp and paper industry – as a basis for living hybrid materials. Lignin is cheap and, because it is naturally present in wood, there is a good chance that microbes could thrive in this type of material. 

Mika Sipponen will primarily work with microalgae, yeast, and filamentous fungi. Among other things, he hopes to develop materials that can produce enzymes for water purification and fat degradation, as well as carbon fixation. The project has a great deal of potential for producing materials that can contribute to a more sustainable world. 

Photo Patrik Lundin