Integration of catalysis with storage for the design of multi-electron photochemistry devices for solar fuel

Abstract

Decarbonization of the transport system and a transition to a new diversified energy system that is scalable and sustainable, requires a widespread implementation of carbon-neutral fuels. In biomimetic supramolecular nanoreactors for solar-to-fuel conversion, water-splitting catalysts can be coupled to photochemical units to form complex electrochemical nanostructures, based on a systems integration approach and guided by magnetic resonance knowledge of the operating principles of biological photosynthesis, to bridge between long-distance energy transfer on the short time scale of fluorescence, ~10-9 s, and short-distance proton-coupled electron transfer and storage on the much longer time scale of catalysis, ~10-3 s. A modular approach allows for the design of nanostructured optimized topologies with a tunneling bridge for the integration of storage with catalysis and optimization of proton chemical potentials, to mimic proton-coupled electron transfer processes in photosystem II and hydrogenase. © The Author(s) 2009.