Printing a Greener Future: Engineered Living Materials Capture CO₂ While Growing Stronger

As the world battles rising carbon emissions, scientists at ETH Zurich have unveiled a futuristic solution: 3D-printed photosynthetic living materials that not only capture CO₂ but also lock it away in a stable mineral form.

In a first-of-its-kind study, researchers embedded Synechococcus sp. PCC 7002, a fast-growing photosynthetic cyanobacterium, inside specially designed hydrogels. The result? A dual carbon sequestration system—one that both grows biomass and induces carbonate precipitation, permanently storing carbon.

Two Ways to Trap Carbon, One Living Material

Unlike traditional carbon capture systems that require energy-intensive infrastructure, this technology mimics nature using light, water, and air. The engineered living material:

Fixes CO₂ into biomass through photosynthesis (like a leaf).
Triggers mineral formation via microbially induced carbonate precipitation (MICP)—a process where cyanobacteria help form calcium and magnesium carbonates that permanently trap CO₂.

This dual process leads to long-term, stable carbon storage.

Smart Design Meets Living Biology

The team used digital fabrication and 3D bioprinting to optimize the material’s structure for light penetration, nutrient flow, and gas exchange—essentials for microbial life.

Key features:

Made from Pluronic F-127 hydrogels, tailored to support long-term cell growth.
Transparent design allows 76% light transmission to drive photosynthesis.
Structures are photo-crosslinked for mechanical stability and can stand upright even after a year.

“These photosynthetic living materials can perform continuous CO₂ capture over 400 days,” said lead author Dalia Dranseike. “It’s a self-sustaining, scalable platform that could revolutionize green construction and climate remediation.”

How Much CO₂ Can It Capture?

2.2 ± 0.9 mg of CO₂ per gram of material over 30 days.
26 ± 7 mg of CO₂ per gram over 400 days—12x more over time.
Nearly 45% of the material’s dry mass after a month consisted of biomass and carbonate crystals.

Better still, these living materials get stronger over time, as the mineral deposits act as natural reinforcements—like coral reefs building stone from life.

Applications: From Eco-Buildings to Scalable Climate Solutions

These photosynthetic living structures could be:

Printed into lattices or wall coatings for buildings, enabling passive CO₂ absorption.
Integrated into green infrastructure, from rooftops to vertical gardens.
Scaled into bio-reactors for industrial CO₂ mitigation.

They require no chemical feedstocks, produce no toxic waste, and run on sunlight and ambient CO₂—making them sustainable and deployable even in remote or urban areas.

Toward a Living Carbon Economy

Compared to chemical CO₂ capture from recycled concrete (6.7 mg/g), these living materials already outperform some conventional methods. Unlike high-pressure carbon capture and storage (CCS), they operate at room temperature and don’t need industrial emissions as a feed source.

“This is a powerful demonstration of how nature-inspired materials can complement large-scale decarbonization strategies,” said Dr. Mark Tibbitt, senior author of the study.

Greener Future_ Carbon Sequestration Breakthrough

TL;DR:
ETH Zurich scientists have created a 3D-printable material that grows, heals, and locks away CO₂ through both biomass and mineralization—promising a new class of living, breathing carbon-negative materials.

Reference:

Dranseike, D., Cui, Y., Ling, A. S., Donat, F., Bernhard, S., Bernero, M., … & Tibbitt, M. W. (2025). Dual carbon sequestration with photosynthetic living materials. Nature Communications, 16(1), 3832. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-58761-y