Cyanobacteria as master builders

The use of carbonating cyanobacteria in biotechnological applications offers an alternative to the conventional use of heterotrophic bacteria under the pressure of climate change and the transformation of industry towards more sustainability and circularity. Thanks to their photosynthetic properties, cyanobacteria can be scaled up in a resource-saving manner, bind_CO2 and produce a variety of substances that are of particular value. A few cyanobacteria form calcium carbonate (_CaCO3)-containing, solid, crystalline shell structures, which have great potential for the production of hybrid materials such as light-conducting coatings or living, concrete-like building materials. Biological cementation by _CaCO3 precipitates is enhanced by bonding with extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) of cyanobacteria. The combination of biological cementation and bonding thus offers unique opportunities to give hybrid materials and building materials new and, depending on requirements, customized properties. The present project aims to use cyanobacterial species to investigate both basic processes of cyanobacterial calcification and to use them to produce novel hybrid materials, such as (i) production of a concrete-like, living building material with a positive_CO2 footprint (carbon capturing) and (ii) light-conducting coatings that make solar cells, for example, more efficient.