Our idea
The challenge is to generate energy in Venusian conditions: high temperature, high pressure, corrosive atmosphere. So far, chemical, nuclear, wind and solar systems have been considered, but we decided to use a novel biomimetic approach. We start from a paper by Efrati et al. (2016) entitled "Assembly of photo-bioelectrochemical cells using photosystem I-functionalized electrodes" published in Nature energy. This paper presents a prototype solar panel using bacterial photosystems (chlorophyll+associated proteins) for the transformation of light into electricity with high efficiency. Our proposal is to take advantage of the chemical systems of extremophile bacteria that live in high temperatures and pressure, associated with submarine volcanoes, to make a solar panel or a chemical module that takes advantage of the conditions of Venus.
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Our project
With the aim of developing an energy storage system for Rovers or landing modules that will carry out activities on Venus, NASA and other associated space agencies have been searching
for different solutions to this dilemma. The most revisited are wind, solar, chemical, and even nuclear energy. Despite being the best studied, none offers sufficient guarantee to carry out a successful mission on this harsh planet.
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With an average temperature of 464°C and a surface pressure of 92 bar, added to the strange chemical composition of its corrosive
atmosphere, it makes designing a mission to Venus a complete challenge. That's why, instead of trying to solve the problem from
scratch, we wanted to see if nature had already done it for us.
In our oceans, around submarine volcanoes, we find a possible answer, where bacterial photosystems play a fundamental role in solving the challenge and taking advantage of the Venusian atmosphere for energy generation.
Photosynthetic organisms capture a red photon and use its energy to excite an
electron in the chlorophyll, which will be consequently transferred and used to
promote chemical reactions where energy is stored. But a single chlorophyll
molecule cannot do everything alone, it requires other molecules that give it
structure and facilitate its action. Each complex of molecules with its chlorophyll
is called a photosystem.
The pioneering work of Efrati and collaborators in 2016 on a functional
prototype of artificial photosynthesis was our starting point. From this panel, we designed a power generation system capable not only of operating but also taking advantage of the atmospheric conditions of Venus.
For the resolution of this panel, we evaluated around 30 species extremophile bacteria, where one, in particular, stood out: GSB1, a bacteria capable of near-infrared photosynthesis using the glow of underwater magma as an energy source.
Our model is based on solar panels where the bacteriochlorophyll (PS1) and associated proteins from the GBS1 bacterium generate the energy needed to power the rover or lander.
This consists of two subunits: on one side, the photosystem will be responsible for the capture of red and infrared and the delivery of electrons to the anode. On the other, for the regeneration of the photosystem, we have the oxidation of sulfur dioxide present in the Venusian atmosphere or the oxidation of sugars.
In this way, we can have enough energy efficiently and lightly.
The system we propose is based on known and promising technology, although it is still experimental. Finding a substance that oxidizes sulfur dioxide under Venusian conditions is no small challenge, but it is a problem that the industry has experience with. And it is potentially a very light panel as it uses ITO and densely packed organic molecules.
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