FURI | Spring 2025

Conversion of Atmospheric CO2 into Value-Added Material Via Chloroplast-Assisted Polymerization Pathways

This project aims to develop a polymerization platform harvesting isolated chloroplasts as monomer production units. This platform focuses on sugar-derived polymers that are synthesized using extracted glucose as the primary monomer. The chloroplast is isolated from the cell, then glucose is extracted in ambient conditions and paired with a comonomer to fix atmospheric CO2 into a polymeric backbone. Currently, the team is producing polydimethylacrylamide (GPMAA), which will be analyzed using optical and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. Once results are acquired, other sugar-derived pathways will be tested. This platform enhances sustainable chemical production by fixing atmospheric CO2 into synthetic polymers.