Prospective Roles of Scanning Photoelectrochemical Microscopy in Microbial Hybrid Photosynthesis^†

Abstract

Microbial hybrid photosynthesis has attracted great interests in recent years since it integrates the advantages of natural and artificial photosynthesis for solar‐to‐chemical conversion. Coupling a light source with scanning electrochemical microscopy, scanning photoelectrochemical microscopy (SPECM) shows great potential in investigating the interfacial reactions of microbial hybrid photosynthesis. In this Emerging Topic, the potential roles of SPECM in revealing biotic–abiotic interfacial electron transfer mechanisms and calculating electrode process kinetics are proposed for hybrid photosynthesis, and this will also inspire the applications of SPECM in the fields including biomineralization, photocatalytic‐biodegradation and microbial photoelectrochemical systems.

Revisiting Solar Energy Flow in Nanomaterial-Microorganism Hybrid Systems

“…156,363 Furthermore, the electrochemical/photoelectrochemical properties of NMHSs are frequently studied using techniques such as differential pulse voltammetry (DPV) 94,152 and cyclic voltammetry (CV), 154,225,280,364−366 often in conjunction with customizable illumination sources. The elucidation of charge separation and recombination in nanomaterials, as well as charge transfer at material-cell interfaces, is primarily achieved through techniques such as photoluminescence and time-resolved photoluminescence (PL/TRPL) spectroscopy, 32,38,133,137,167,172,189 transient absorption (TA) spectroscopy, 122,133,144,169,230 scanning electrochemical microscopy (SECM), 280,367 scanning tunneling microscopy (STM), and synchrotron X-ray radiation techniques. 150,170 Additionally, analytical methods like high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), 152,279 mass spectrometry (MS), and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) are available for the identification of unknown species in the reaction system, particularly those with suspected biological or electrochemical effects, such as energy carriers.…”

“…The morphologies of nanomaterials, cells, and material-cell interfaces are typically characterized through scanning electron microscopy (SEM), ,,,,,,,,,,,, transmission electron microscopy (TEM) (refs , , , , , , , , , , , , , , and ), and atomic force microscopy (AFM). , Furthermore, the electrochemical/photoelectrochemical properties of NMHSs are frequently studied using techniques such as differential pulse voltammetry (DPV) , and cyclic voltammetry (CV), ,,,− often in conjunction with customizable illumination sources. The elucidation of charge separation and recombination in nanomaterials, as well as charge transfer at material-cell interfaces, is primarily achieved through techniques such as photoluminescence and time-resolved photoluminescence (PL/TRPL) spectroscopy, ,,,,,, transient absorption (TA) spectroscopy, ,,,, scanning electrochemical microscopy (SECM), , scanning tunneling microscopy (STM), and synchrotron X-ray radiation techniques. , Additionally, analytical methods like high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), , mass spectrometry (MS), and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) are available for the identification of unknown species in the reaction system, particularly those with suspected biological or electrochemical effects, such as energy carriers. The mechanisms of intracellular energy flow and metabolism are investigated through transcriptomic, proteomic, and metabolomic analyses conducted on microbial cells within NMHSs. , These approaches can provide additional evidence to elucidate the molecular machineries involved in these processes.…”

Electron Shuttles in Microbial Photoelectrochemical Systems: Cytotoxicity and Photostability

“…[1][2][3] Microbial photoelectrochemical systems, which convert solar energy into chemical energy, offer numerous benefits, such as environmental friendliness, economic feasibility, and high selectivity. Over the past decades, these systems have garnered considerable interest for their applications in carbon capture, [4] hydrogen production, [5] and nitrogen fixation. [6] Microbial photoelectrochemical systems mainly include photo-bio-electrochemical systems and semiconductor-biotic photosynthetic systems (Figure 1).…”