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