A chemical reaction pathway central to plant biology has been adapted to form the backbone of a new process that converts water into hydrogen fuel using energy from the sun.
A chemical reaction pathway central to plant biology has been adapted to form the backbone of a new process that converts water into hydrogen fuel using energy from the sun.
In a recent study from the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory, scientists have combined two membrane-bound protein complexes to perform a complete conversion of water molecules to hydrogen and oxygen.
The work builds on an earlier study that examined one of these protein complexes, called Photosystem I, a membrane protein that can use energy from light to feed electrons to an inorganic catalyst that makes hydrogen. This part of the reaction, however, represents only half of the overall process needed for hydrogen generation.
By using a second protein complex that uses energy from light to split water and take electrons from it, called Photosystem II, Argonne chemist Lisa Utschig and her colleagues were able to take electrons from water and feed them to Photosystem I.
Read more at DOE / Argonne National Laboratory
Image: This image shows two membrane-bound protein complexes that work together with a synthetic catalyst to produce hydrogen from water. CREDIT: Olivia Johnson and Lisa Utschig
