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Journal ArticleDOI

Photosynthetic energy conversion: natural and artificial

James Barber
- 01 Jan 2009 - 
- Vol. 38, Iss: 1, pp 185-196
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TLDR
Can PSII be exploited through increased use of biomass as an energy source and, more importantly, can the energy/CO2 problem be addressed by developing new photochemical technologies which mimic the natural system?
Abstract
Photosystem II (PSII) is the water splitting enzyme of photosynthesis. Its appearance during evolution dramatically changed the chemical composition of our planet and set in motion an unprecedented explosion in biological activity. Powered by sunlight, PSII supplies biology with the ‘hydrogen’ needed to convert carbon dioxide into organic molecules. The questions now are can we continue to exploit this photosynthetic process through increased use of biomass as an energy source and, more importantly, can we address the energy/CO2 problem by developing new photochemical technologies which mimic the natural system? (Critical review, 82 references)

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TL;DR: The emphasis of this review is on the origin of the electrocatalytic activity of nanostructured catalysts toward a series of key clean energy conversion reactions by correlating the apparent electrode performance with their intrinsic electrochemical properties.
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TL;DR: This review discusses various nanomaterials that have been explored to mimic different kinds of enzymes and covers their kinetics, mechanisms and applications in numerous fields, from biosensing and immunoassays, to stem cell growth and pollutant removal.
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Solar Energy Supply and Storage for the Legacy and Nonlegacy Worlds

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Proton-Coupled Electron Transfer

TL;DR: Proton-coupled electron transfer is an important mechanism for charge transfer in a wide variety of systems including biology- and materials-oriented venues and several are reviewed.
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Metal–organic frameworks for artificial photosynthesis and photocatalysis

TL;DR: The fundamental principles of energy transfer and photocatalysis are summarized and an overview of the latest progress in energy transfer, light-harvesting, photocatalytic proton and CO2 reduction, and water oxidation using MOFs is provided.
References
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Journal ArticleDOI

Electrochemical Photolysis of Water at a Semiconductor Electrode

TL;DR: Water photolysis is investigated by exploiting the fact that water is transparent to visible light and cannot be decomposed directly, but only by radiation with wavelengths shorter than 190 nm.
Journal ArticleDOI

Powering the planet: Chemical challenges in solar energy utilization

TL;DR: Solar energy is by far the largest exploitable resource, providing more energy in 1 hour to the earth than all of the energy consumed by humans in an entire year, and if solar energy is to be a major primary energy source, it must be stored and dispatched on demand to the end user.
Journal ArticleDOI

The path forward for biofuels and biomaterials

TL;DR: The integration of agroenergy crops and biorefinery manufacturing technologies offers the potential for the development of sustainable biopower and biomaterials that will lead to a new manufacturing paradigm.
Journal ArticleDOI

In Situ Formation of an Oxygen-Evolving Catalyst in Neutral Water Containing Phosphate and Co2+

TL;DR: A catalyst that forms upon the oxidative polarization of an inert indium tin oxide electrode in phosphate-buffered water containing cobalt (II) ions is reported that not only forms in situ from earth-abundant materials but also operates in neutral water under ambient conditions.
Journal ArticleDOI

Architecture of the Photosynthetic Oxygen-Evolving Center

TL;DR: The data strongly suggest that the OEC contains a cubane-like Mn3CaO4 cluster linked to a fourth Mn by a mono-μ-oxo bridge, and the details of the surrounding coordination sphere of the metal cluster and the implications for a possible oxygen-evolving mechanism are discussed.
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