Encapsulation of individual Chlamydomonas reinhardtii cells with TiO2 shells was found to affect their hydrogen production under sulfur-deprived conditions. We showed that a dark incubation of the cells before exposure to light is essential in order to overcome the toxic effects of the (RKK)(4)D-8 catalytic peptide. The TiO2-encapsulated cells were able to produce H-2 with about double efficiency during 5-day period compared to non-encapsulated cells. The light-to-H-2 conversion efficiency of TiO2-encapsulated L1591-N230Y C. reinhardtii system was estimated to be more than 4% under optimized conditions. Copyright (C) 2015, Hydrogen Energy Publications, LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.