Improving photosynthesis by scattering hydrogel fiber–enabled volumetric illumination

Photosynthetic biomanufacturing offers a sustainable route to generate valuable bioproducts by harnessing microorganisms such as algae to convert sunlight and carbon dioxide into biomass. A major barrier to efficient production is that light penetrates poorly into dense algal cultures, restricting photosynthesis to a thin surface layer and severely limiting the solar energy that can be utilized for algal growth and biomass production. Here, we present a material-based strategy to overcome this f