UNIST Prevents Environmental Pollution from Waste Gas... Creating a Cleaner and Safer Environment

UNIST Professor Yonghwan Kim's Team and Collaborators Discover Specific Electron Transfer Site in Enzyme

Industrial Waste Gas Purification Technology Enhances Carbon Neutrality, Published in Nature Communications

It has been confirmed that a specific site of the enzyme can purify toxic gases.

The research team led by Professor Yonghwan Kim from the Carbon Neutral Graduate School and the Department of Energy Chemical Engineering at UNIST (President Yonghoon Lee), in collaboration with Professor Jungki Ryu’s team from the Department of Energy Chemical Engineering and Professor Hyungho Lee’s team from the Department of Chemistry at Seoul National University, revealed for the first time the capability of Carbon Monoxide Dehydrogenase (CODH).

From the second on the left in the bottom row, Researcher Seokmin Kim, Professor Yonghwan Kim.

Carbon Monoxide Dehydrogenase can perfectly purify harmful gases contained in industrial waste gases up to 100%. This enables the creation of a cleaner and safer environment.

Carbon Monoxide Dehydrogenase is an enzyme primarily used for converting carbon monoxide in industrial waste. However, the exact electron transfer site of this enzyme had not been known.

The research team discovered a specific electron transfer active site of Carbon Monoxide Dehydrogenase. At this particular site, which holds electrons, an oxidation reaction that loses electrons occurs. The electrons generated in this reaction are transferred by electron carriers. At this time, they encounter harmful carbon monoxide gas molecules and purify the toxic gas.

The team also developed a method to precisely manipulate the specific site of the enzyme to further enhance its activity. By mutating the electron transfer site of the enzyme and replacing it with different amino acids, the affinity between the enzyme and the electron transfer mediator improves. Through this, the enzyme can purify gases faster and more efficiently than before.

Core Electron Transfer Site of Carbon Monoxide Dehydrogenase and Overall Schematic of Lung Gas Purification Technology

Professor Yonghwan Kim stated, “We have opened a new horizon for industrial waste gas purification technology using enzymes,” and added, “We conducted various experiments utilizing this enzyme and confirmed its high purification ability for actual industrial waste gases.”

Seokmin Kim, research professor and first and corresponding author, said, “The results of this study can be applied to utilize waste gases generated from the steel industry as carbon resources for producing useful chemical products,” and added, “It will greatly contribute to realizing carbon neutrality in Korea.”

This study presented a new solution to environmental pollution problems caused by industrial waste gases. It achieved the dual goals of sustainable environmental protection and industrial development.

The research results were published online on March 28 in the internationally renowned scientific journal Nature Communications. The study was conducted with support from the C1 Gas Refinery Project promoted by the Ministry of Science and ICT and the National Research Foundation of Korea, as well as the ERC Leading Research Center.

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