How mimicking photosynthesis can be the future of clean energy

2020 has been an unprecedented year for

people

and the planet the corporate 19 pandemic

has distracted lives worldwide

at the same time it has already seen

many

devastating natural disasters such as

the australian bushfire volcano eruption

in the philippines located swamps in

east africa

earthquakes in mexico california wide

fell

as well as floods and cyclones in india

disasters linked to climate and further

extremes

have always been part of our earth

system

but they are becoming more frequent and

intense

as the world warms up the world is set

to see

its longest five years on record and

weigh out at least one degree celsius

above pre-industrial

levels according to natural scientists

climate change is intensifying natural

disasters

like white fells and flash making them

increasingly devastating sea levels are

rising

the arctic is melting oceans are

acidifying

coral reefs are dying and the forests

are burning

no corner of the group is immune to the

devastating consequences of climate

change

increasing and universal impact of

climate change

are fueling environmental degradation

natural disasters

versus extremes food and water

insecurity

economical direction conflict and the

tourism

at the infinite cost of climate change

reaches the universal heights now is the

time for

bold collective action if no action is

taken

entire district of new york osaka

shanghai abdavi rio de janeiro

mumbai and many other cities could find

themselves

and water within our lives displacing

millions of people for the past

150 years or so humans have relied

heavily on coal

oil and other fossil fuels to power

everything from light bulbs

to cars to factories currently fossil

fuels still account for

85 percent of total global energy

consumption

and are embedded in nearly everything we

do

as a result billions of tons of carbon

dioxide are released

into the atmosphere every year from the

burning of those

fields greenhouse gas concentrations are

already at their

highest levels in 3 million years and

have continued to rise carbon dioxide

emissions

are the primary driver of global climate

change

it is widely recognized that to avoid

the diverse

impact of climate change the board need

to urgently reduce carbon dioxide

emissions never before has it been so

clear that

we need a long-term inclusive clean

transitions to tackle the climate crisis

and achieve sustainable development

we must turn the recovery from the

pandemic

into a real opportunity to build a

better future

my favorite animal is polar bear

i think there is nothing cuter than a

polar bear cup

however a study predicted that the polar

belt will

be wrapped out by the end of century and

that’s

more stone to tackle climate change

as a researcher in chemistry i’m always

thinking about

what i could do to slow down the global

warming renewable energy source such as

the solar

and vent of hope because they do not

emit carbon dioxide

and other greenhouse gases that

contributed to global warming

solar energy is the technology used to

harness

the sun’s energy and make it usable

many are familiar with so-called

photovoltaic cells

or solar panels found on things like

spacecraft

rooftops and handheld calculators

the cells are made of semiconductor

materials like those

found in computer chips to produce

electricity

using sunlight when sunlight heats the

cells

it knocks the electrons loose from their

atoms

as the electrons flow through the cell

they generate

electricity solar energy is lauded as

an inexhaustible fuel source that is

pollution-free and often noise-free

the technology is also vegetal for

example solar cells generate

energy for far out places like

satellites

in earth orbit and the carbons deep in

the mountains

as easily as they can power downtown

buildings

and future cars however

solar energy does not work at night

without a

storage device such as a battery and

and the cloudy weather can make the

technology and reliable during that date

besides if we look at the global energy

portfolio

and what is needed electricity only

covers

maybe 20 to 25 percent so with

thinking if it’s possible to come

convert to the energy harvested

from the sun into the chemical fuels

that are storable

transportable and usable upon demand

we found a hint in nature that is

photosynthesis

in the plants this is a genius approach

to using sunlight

carbon dioxide and water to make glucose

which is a form of sugar that plants

need to survive

during the photosynthesis in leaf light

energy

transfers electrons from water to carbon

dioxide

to produce carbohydrates in this

transfer

the carbon dioxide is reduced and the

water becomes

oxidized ultimately

oxygen is produced along with

carbohydrates

photosynthesis it’s important to live in

organisms

because it functions as a counter

balance

to respiration by taking the carbon

dioxide

produced by all breathing organisms and

reintroducing oxygen into the atmosphere

the whole process of photosynthesis is a

transfer of

energy from the sun to a plant

in each sugar molecule created

there is a little bit of the energy from

the sun

which the plant can either use or store

for later

so it is possible to mimic this process

to store

sunlight into the chemicals that we want

the answer is yes and we call this

artificial leaf apparently there is

no spontaneous reaction between carbon

dioxide and

water we know that because we cannot get

sugar if we just

purge carbon dioxide in water and the

sunlight is radiation

though the photosynthesis process is

complex and the melted step

fails there are two cabinets essential

to photosynthesis

one is pigments responsible for

effective

chopping sunlight for example

chlorophylls

and the other one is enzyme which is

biological catalyst

and the speed of chemical reactions

we have sunlight water and carbon

dioxide

what do we need now to fabricate an

artificial leaf

we need to find the suitable light

absorbers and the catalyst

to drive their reactions we know that

the semiconductor materials are good

light absorbers like the solar cells do

when the semiconductor absorbs light

photons

transfer their energy to electrons which

flow through the

materials as electrical current

but we don’t need to turn the electrons

generated

in the semiconductor to produce

electricity

instead we use catalysts to capture the

excited

electrons and use them for the reactions

the catalyst can be inorganic

nanoparticles

metal catalysis and enzymes

similar to photosynthesis the absorption

of the sunlight

excites electrons and converts sunlight

into potential chemical energy taking

inspiration from the way that plants

create

their own energy we developed the

working artificial

leaf which is a slingsheet that produces

oxygen and formic acid from water

carbon dioxide and the sunlight the leaf

is based on cobalt to catalyst the

coatings on

a sheet made of semiconductor powders

it does not require wires or electricity

when the leaf is submerged in a bath of

water and carbon dioxide and then

exposed

to sunlight a chemical reaction takes

place

with the artificial leaf the soil energy

is transferred

when the electrons join the carbon

dioxide and proteins

in that water to make a calories yet

pungent liquid

formic acid formic acid is a fuel can be

stored and used on its own or turned

into hydrogen fuel the reaction rate

and the product to type are controlled

by the catalyst

used we may use a different catalyst

for example metallic lutherian

nanoparticles

on the same semiconductors another

attractive reaction without the

environment

of carbon dioxide can be achieved which

is

water splitting water splitting is the

chemical reaction in which

water is broken down into oxygen gas and

hydrogen gas

this reaction is attractive because

hydrogen fuel is a zero emission field

burned with oxygen conventional hydrogen

production using natural gas

induces a significant environmental

impact

as with the use of any hydrocarbon

carbon dioxide is emitted

therefore efficient and economical

photochemical water spreading

would be a technological breakthrough

that could underpin

a hygiene economy when sunshine

added the artificial leaf emerged in

pure water

and then hydrogen and oxygen are readily

obtained

in this reaction the solar to hydrogen

conversion efficiency exceeds one

percent

which is close to the photosynthesis

reaction efficiency

in the agricultural crops the artificial

leaves are made up of semiconductor

powders

which can be prepared in large

quantities easily

and cost effectively the leaves with

significant

areas can also be fabricated by a cost

effective and directly accessible

printing technique

for example screen printing so that this

wireless device

could be scaled up and used on energy

farms

similar to solar cell farms producing

clean fuels using sunlight

water and carbon dioxide a potential

sustainable plant

for solar field generation and

utilization

can be immediate to work in this way

water and carbon dioxide captured from

the atmosphere

or the emission of coal or natural gas

burning

plant are injected into a solar field

production module

such as that produce hydrogen and formic

acid the produced fuels are subsequently

used in

high efficiency power product production

systems

including internal combustion engines

and

fuel cells also the obtained chemicals

can be used

to prepare high value chemicals to

generate

methanol and aesthetic natural gas

or precursors for plastic

and the fertilizers the development

of such a sustainable soil energy

conversion system

is beneficial to close the global carbon

cycle and produce renewable chemicals

and fuels from the greenhouse gas carbon

dioxide

while technologies has contributed to

climate change

new and emerging technologies such as

artificial

leaf can help us to reduce net emissions

and create a cleaner wood with the

substantial advances of the science and

technologies for artificial

photosynthesis

in terms of efficiency scaling and cost

solar fuel production devices are

constantly being improved

i believe the scalable new technologies

will enable

us to leapfrog to a cleaner and more

resilient

world i hope the government business is

academia and most importantly us all

will work together and play our part to

create a cleaner future

where suffering is diminished and

harmony

is restored between people and the

planet

so that we can save the poor belts and

also

ourselves our family and our children