Artificial Photosynthesis: Learning from Nature

Abstract

Artificial photosynthesis has been devised and investigated in pursuit of solving the 21st century's energy problem. Despite significant advances in recent decades, applying the technology in real life is still a challenging subject for scientists. As the term “artificial photosynthesis” stems from mimicking natural photosynthesis, we can learn from nature's strategies which have evolved over 3.4 billion years. This Review highlights important strategies of natural photosynthesis which can be borrowed for highly efficient and robust artificial photosystems for solar fuel production. Starting with a brief description of photosystem II in natural photosynthetic autotrophs, three relevant bioinspired strategies are discussed in this article: i) accumulative charge transfer, ii) photoprotection, and iii) self-healing. Next, development of artificial photosystems mimicking those strategies will be discussed. Finally, remaining challenges and perspectives for future development of artificial photosynthesis are described.