De Lacey, Antonio L., Victor M. Fernandez, Marc Rousset, and Richard Cammack. “Activation and inactivation of hydrogenase function and the catalytic cycle: spectroelectrochemical studies.” Chemical reviews 107, no. 10 (2007): 4304-4330.
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Hydrogen, the most abundant element in the Universe, is considered to be an environmental friendly energy carrier because its combustion generates water. Nowadays, owing to the intrinsic stability of the hydrogen molecule, efficient catalysts, mostly based on noble metals such as platinum, are required for the production or utilization of hydrogen at ambient temperatures. In the Biosphere, hydrogen is generated by different metabolic processes in a wide range of microorganisms and also is the energy source of many other living species using hydrogenases as catalysts. Hydrogenases are proteins that harbor Fe or Ni metallic clusters with the special property of reacting with or producing H2