Iron sulfide-catalyzed gaseous CO2 reduction and prebiotic carbon fixation in terrestrial hot springs
Understanding abiotic carbon fixation provides insights into early Earth's carbon cycles and life's emergence in terrestrial hot springs, where iron sulfide (FeS), similar to cofactors in metabolic enzymes, may catalyze prebiotic synthesis. However, the role of FeS-mediated carbon fixation in such conditions remains underexplored. Here, we investigate the catalytic behaviors of FeS (pure and doped with Ti, Ni, Mn, and Co), which are capable of H<sub>2</sub>-driven CO<sub>2</sub> reduction to methanol under simulated hot spring vapor-zone conditions, using an anaerobic flow chamber connected to a gas chromatograph. Specifically, Mn-doped FeS increases methanol production five-fold at 120 °C, with UV-visible light (300-720 nm) and UV-enhanced light (200-600 nm) further increasing this activity. Operando and theoretical investigations indicate the mechanism involves a reverse water-gas shift with CO as an intermediate. These findings highlight the potential of FeS-catalyzed carbon fixation in early Earth's terrestrial hot springs, effective with or without UV light.
Authors
- Quoc Phuong Tran (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0008-9245-4021)
- Albert C. Fahrenbach (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8315-8836)
- Jingbo Nan (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6830-7496)
- Jinhua Ye (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8105-8903)
- Shunqin Luo (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1162-0200)
- Wenning Lu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0000-6688-3430)
- Zongjun Yin (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9391-0446)
- Martin J. Van Kranendonk (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0611-2703)
- Yingjie Hu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3237-8609)
Institutions
- Chinese Academy of Sciences (CN)
- Hokkaido University (JP)
- National Institute for Materials Science (JP)
- Curtin University (AU)
- UNSW Sydney (AU)
- Nanjing Institute of Geology and Paleontology (CN)
- East China University of Technology (CN)
- Nanjing Xiaozhuang University (CN)
- Beijing Research Institute of Uranium Geology (CN)
- Environmental Earth Sciences (AU)
- Tianjin Medical University (CN)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Nature Communications
- Published
- 2024-11-28
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-54062-y
- Citations
- 10
- Primary Topic
- Origins and Evolution of Life
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 3.32
Funders
- National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology
- Analytical Center for the Government of the Russian Federation
- Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology
- University of New South Wales
- National Natural Science Foundation of China
- Hokkaido University
- Max-Planck-Institut für Terrestrische Mikrobiologie
- State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Stratigraphy
- State Key Laboratory for Nuclear Resources and Environment, East China Institute of Technology