Abstract
70 % of mankind’s current energy needs are met by burning fossil fuels. This is already problematic since oil and gas supplies are limited and because of the adverse environmental effects of rising levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Moreover this situation is set to get worse as current predictions estimate that our energy needs will double by 2050. Mankind is, therefore, facing a major challenge to find new ways of creating clean, renewable fuels. One potentially abundant source of energy is solar radiation. More energy strikes the earth surface every hour than mankind uses each year. The problem is how to harness such an abundant yet diffuse source of energy. Photosynthesis has evolved mechanisms to achieve this. Conceptually photosynthesis can be divided into the following partial reactions: light harvesting (concentration), charge separation (conversion of solar energy into chemical energy), and finally multi-electron catalysis that takes electrons from water and uses them to reduce carbon dioxide to carbohydrates (fuel). Any proposed strategies that set out to mimic this process in order to make solar fuels must begin with a light-harvesting or light-concentration step. We know a great deal about the structure and function of photosynthetic light-harvesting complexes as individual molecules, but rather little is known about how their supramolecular organization within their photosynthetic membranes affects their overall function in vivo. We wish to understand how the supramolecular arrangement of the light-harvesting apparatus relates to overall light-harvesting efficiency and to be able to translate this information to inform the design of robust artificial light-harvesting arrays that can, in the long term, be used in devices for producing solar fuels. Photosynthetic antenna complexes are organized on the nanoscale, and a major question is how to translate this information into the design of meso- to macroscale light-harvesting devices. This chapter will outline how photosynthesis achieves “solar to fuel” conversion concentrating on the general principles involved. Recent progress on understating the molecular details of the key reactions in the photosynthetic process has been remarkable. We are now at the stage where it is realistic to start to use this “biological blueprint” to begin to construct devices that have the capability to mimic the key steps in the natural process. This is one of the grand scientific challenges of our time.
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Hashimoto, H., Uragami, C. (2015). Artificial Photosynthesis Producing Solar Fuels: Natural Tactics of Photosynthesis. In: Rozhkova, E., Ariga, K. (eds) From Molecules to Materials. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-13800-8_2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-13800-8_2
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