A protective shell on the surface of Chlorella cells promotes long-term stable production of hydrogen

The Chlorella cells exhibit excellent application potential in the field of environmental governance and bioenergy development. By selecting a bionic coating on the cell surface, it is possible to significantly enhance the cells' viability and stability within polluted environments. In this study, we employed catechol to induce the native Chlorella cells and Tannic acid (TA)-Fe³⁺@laccase coated cells to produce hydrogen. This protective coating effectively shielded the cells from external stressors, enhancing their tolerance in alkaline environments and higher substrate concentrations, ensuring long-term stable hydrogen production, achieving a 1.7-fold increase compared to the native cell hydrogen production in 7 days (Optical density, OD₇₅₀ = 2.5). Meanwhile, the degradation rate of catechol and the accumulation of biomass were also improved, and the accumulation of biomass increased by 8%. This strategy is expected to provide new solutions and possibilities for utilizing environmental pollutants to produce clean energy.