Molecular Chemistry for Solar Fuels: From Natural to Artificial Photosynthesis

Abstract

The world needs new, environmentally friendly, and renewable fuels to exchange for fossil fuels. The fuel must be made from cheap, abundant, and renewable resources. The research area of solar fuels aims to meet this demand. This paper discusses why we need a solar fuel, and proposes solar energy as the major renewable energy source to feed from. The scientific field concerning artificial photosynthesis is expanding rapidly and most of the different scientific visions for solar fuels are briefly reviewed. Research strategies for the development of artificial photosynthesis to produce solar fuels are overviewed, with some critical concepts discussed in closer detail.

Chemical approaches to artificial photosynthesis

“…They offer the advantages of rapid iteration by chemical synthesis and the ability to study individual components separately. Contemporary interest in chemical approaches to artificial photosynthesis is apparent by the large number of reviews that have appeared in recent years (25)(26)(27)(28)(29)(30)(31)(32)(33)(34)(35)(36)(37)(38).…”

Optimization and Stabilization of Electrodeposited Cu2ZnSnS4 Photocathodes for Solar Water Reduction

“…Inexpensive and efficient routes to the chemical storage of solar energy are urgently needed for a sustainable energy economy. Hydrogen fuel is a promising candidate as a renewable energy vector, and an elegant and potentially the most efficient approach to solar hydrogen production is the direct conversion of sunlight using a water splitting photoelectrochemical (PEC) cell that employs a direct semiconductor–liquid interface. , Numerous semiconductor materials and cell configurations have been investigated for PEC water splitting in the last decades, and a tandem cell approach has emerged as a promising route that can both generate sufficient photopotential for water splitting and harvest a significant portion of the solar spectrum . In particular, a dual absorber (D4-type) photoanode/photocathode tandem device is reasonably simple to construct and could achieve solar-to-chemical efficiencies over 20% when using optimized absorber band gap energies even with large assumed losses …”

Tetra- and Heptametallic Ru(II),Rh(III) Supramolecular Hydrogen Production Photocatalysts

“…Cost effective water splitting on the large scale is limited by efficient catalysis of the multiproton/multielectron oxidation and reduction of water. In principle, H 2 can be produced with solar photovoltaics supplying the current for water electrolysis or by direct solar-to-chemical energy conversion by artificial photosynthesis (AP). − The homogeneous approach to solar H 2 by AP is complex and requires synergy among multiple components specializing in light absorption, charge separation, and catalysis. Given the importance of this problem, intense efforts have been dedicated to the discovery and optimization of new catalysts and chromophores and to unraveling the mechanisms of photocatalysis. − …”