Publication date: 10th April 2014
Fossil fuels represent solar energy captured and stored in fuel by photosynthetic organisms. Photosynthesis can serve as inspiration for the design of artificial photosynthetic systems for production of hydrogen or other fuels. Photosynthetic antennas collect sunlight, transport excitation energy to reaction centers, and perform regulatory and photoprotective functions. Reaction centers are molecular-scale photovoltaics that convert excitation energy into electrochemical energy in the form of redox potential. Biological enzyme catalysts use the oxidation potential of reaction centers to oxidize water. The reduction potential of the reaction centers is employed by other catalysts to produce fuels. Living organisms have developed catalysts for production of carbohydrates, precursors of biodiesel, hydrogen gas, and other fuels.
Following the photosynthetic paradigm, scientists are learning to design and construct artificial antennas that efficiently harvest light throughout the visible spectral region, transfer the excitation to artificial reaction centers, and regulate the artificial photosynthetic process. Artificial reaction centers use excitation energy from the antennas to carry out photoinduced electron transfer reactions that store a large fraction of the photon energy as redox potential. Catalysts that oxidize water and that produce hydrogen are being developed and functionally interfaced to reaction centers to create complete solar fuel production systems. Several examples of progress towards hydrogen production by artificial photosynthesis will be discussed.
An artificial photosynthetic reaction center based on porphyrins and a fullerene
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