Perfluorocarbon Nanoemulsions Create a Beneficial O Microenvironment in N-fixing Biological | Inorganic Hybrid.

Powered by renewable electricity, biological | inorganic hybrids employ water-splitting electrocatalysis and generate H as reducing equivalents for microbial catalysis. The approach integrates the beauty of biocatalysis with the energy efficiency of inorganic materials for sustainable chemical production. Yet a successful integration requires delicate control of the hybrid's extracellular chemical environment. Such an argument is evident in the exemplary case of O because biocatalysis has a stringent requirement of O but the electrocatalysis may inadvertently perturb the oxidative pressure of biological moieties. Here we report the addition of perfluorocarbon (PFC) nanoemulsions promote a biocompatible O microenvironment in a O-sensitive N-fixing biological | inorganic hybrid. Langmuir-type nonspecific binding between bacteria and nanoemulsions facilitates O transport in bacterial microenvironment and leads to a 250% increase in efficiency for organic fertilizers within 120 hours. Controlling the biological microenvironment with nanomaterials heralds a general approach accommodating the compatibility in biological | inorganic hybrids.