Closed-loop upcycling of protein amyloid fibrils from food waste for atmospheric CO2 capture

Closed-loop upcycling of protein amyloid fibrils from food waste for atmospheric CO2 capture | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Closed-loop upcycling of protein amyloid fibrils from food waste for atmospheric CO 2 capture Raffaele Mezzenga, Zhou Dong, Ming Dai, Felix Donat, Dominik Richert, and 9 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-7971598/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Food waste contributes substantially to global CO2 emissions, yet it also offers underutilized opportunities for climate change mitigation within and beyond the food system. Direct air capture (DAC) technologies can help offset these emissions, but most current sorbents are synthetic, energy-intensive, and poorly aligned with circular-economy principles, while bio-based alternatives typically feature low CO2 capacity and poor stability. Here, we upcycle proteins recovered from dairy and tofu waste streams into functional amyloid fibril microbeads for ambient CO2 capture. Atomic-level design and templated moulding enable lysine and glutamine residues within the fibrils, along with hydroxyl groups introduced by mild KOH treatment, to form abundant active sites for CO2 capture, achieving up to 2.20 mmol g−1 under ambient air. The microbeads are regenerated within 10−12 min via alternating dilute acid–alkali mist without any thermal input and remain stable over 30 cycles. Life cycle assessment (LCA), ranking efficiency product (REP), and techno-economic analysis (TEA) reveal superior sustainability and cost efficiency compared with conventional sorbents, validating a circular economy approach that upcycles food waste into CO2 sorbents, which can, if needed, ultimately be reintegrated into the food system. Physical sciences/Materials science/Biomaterials/Biomaterials – proteins Physical sciences/Chemistry/Materials chemistry/Biomaterials/Biomaterials – proteins carbon neutrality food waste amyloid fibrils direct air capture sorbent pH swing thermal-free regeneration sustainability Full Text Additional Declarations There is NO Competing Interest. Supplementary Files SI.pdf Supporting Information SupplementaryVideo1.mp4 Dry ice smoke adsorption by pure β-lg amyloid fibril microbeads SupplementaryVideo2.mp4 Dry ice smoke adsorption by pure KOH-β-lg amyloid fibril microbeads SupplementaryVideo3.mp4 MD simulations of bicarbonate fixation in selected culster at 298K SupplementaryVideo4.mp4 MD simulations of bicarbonate fixation in selected culster at 298K Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-7971598","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":536462067,"identity":"210bb37e-2116-477e-abfb-77426c936963","order_by":0,"name":"Raffaele 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