Many strains are able to produce hydrogen naturally, and scientists are working to improve them. However, the increased complexity of these systems makes them harder to develop and more expensive.Īnother area of research within artificial photosynthesis is the selection and manipulation of photosynthetic microorganisms, namely green microalgae and cyanobacteria, for the production of solar fuels. Furthermore, different components do not necessarily need to work in the same conditions. A heterogeneous system has two separate electrodes, an anode and a cathode, making possible the separation of oxygen and hydrogen production.Also, all components must be active in approximately the same conditions (e.g., pH). This can be a drawback, since they compose an explosive mixture, demanding gas product separation. This means that hydrogen and oxygen are produced in the same location. A homogeneous system is one such that catalysts are not compartmentalized, that is, components are present in the same compartment.Two methods are generally recognized for the construction of solar fuel cells for hydrogen production: The conversion of solar energy into a clean fuel (H 2) under ambient conditions is one of the greatest challenges facing scientists in the twenty-first century. This process has the potential for large quantities of hydrogen to be generated in an ecologically sound manner. The conversion of solar energy into hydrogen via a water-splitting process assisted by photosemiconductor catalysts is one of the most promising technologies in development. It is also predicted to be one of the more, if not the most, efficient ways of obtaining hydrogen from water. This method of sustainable hydrogen production is a major objective for the development of alternative energy systems. One process for the creation of a clean and affordable energy supply is the development of photocatalytic water splitting under solar light. The only by-product would be oxygen, and production of a solar fuel has the potential to be cheaper than gasoline. With the development of catalysts able to reproduce the major parts of photosynthesis, the only inputs needed to produce clean energy would ultimately be water, carbon dioxide and sunlight. ![]() The purpose of artificial photosynthesis is to produce a fuel from sunlight that can be stored conveniently and used when sunlight is not available, by using direct processes, that is, to produce a solar fuel. One way of using natural photosynthesis is for the production of a biofuel, which is an indirect process that suffers from low energy conversion efficiency (due to photosynthesis' own low efficiency in converting sunlight to biomass), the cost of harvesting and transporting the fuel, and conflicts due to the increasing need of land mass for food production. Whereas photovoltaics can provide energy directly from sunlight, the inefficiency of fuel production from photovoltaic electricity (indirect process) and the fact that sunshine is not constant throughout the day sets a limit to its use. Natural (left) versus artificial photosynthesis (right) These catalysts must be able to react quickly and absorb a large percentage of the incident solar photons. Furthermore, the protons resulting from water splitting can be used for hydrogen production. Researchers of artificial photosynthesis are developing photocatalysts that are able to perform both of these reactions. The second phase of plant photosynthesis (also known as the Calvin-Benson cycle) is a light-independent reaction that converts carbon dioxide into glucose (fuel). In plant photosynthesis, water molecules are photo-oxidized to release oxygen and protons. The photosynthetic reaction can be divided into two half-reactions of oxidation and reduction, both of which are essential to producing fuel. ![]() ![]() Research on this topic includes the design and assembly of devices for the direct production of solar fuels, photoelectrochemistry and its application in fuel cells, and the engineering of enzymes and photoautotrophic microorganisms for microbial biofuel and biohydrogen production from sunlight. Light-driven carbon dioxide reduction is another process studied that replicates natural carbon fixation. ![]() Photocatalytic water splitting converts water into hydrogen and oxygen and is a major research topic of artificial photosynthesis. The term artificial photosynthesis is commonly used to refer to any scheme for capturing and storing the energy from sunlight in the chemical bonds of a fuel (a solar fuel). Artificial process that uses sunlight energy to drive chemical synthesisĪrtificial photosynthesis is a chemical process that biomimics the natural process of photosynthesis to convert sunlight, water, and carbon dioxide into carbohydrates and oxygen.
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