Biomimetic approaches to artificial photosynthesis

Journal Article · Sun Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1978 · Biotechnol. Bioeng. Symp.; (United States)

OSTI ID:5374654

Katz, J J; Wasielewski, M R

At this writing, solar heating and the direct conversion of sunlight to electricity are the most advanced technologies for solar energy conversion. It is a reasonable assumption that both of these techniques for solar energy conversion will achieve large scale use in the not too distant future. However, there are other less familiar and less widely discussed but in the long run perhaps more broadly useful approaches to solar energy conversion. One such approach, which is the subject of this paper, is the utilization of solar energy for chemical purposes rather than as a heat source or in competition with various nuclear technologies for the production of electricity. Green plants and certain bacteria, in fact, use solar energy in precisely this way. These organisms use the energy of sunlight to effect the synthesis of the great array of organic compounds (e.g., carbohydrates, proteins, lipids) charactistically produced by green plants. The process by which green plants use solar energy for chemical purposes is called photosynthesis, and it is one of the objects of this paper to survey some of the salient features of artificial photosynthesis as a general approach to solar green conversion.

• Research Organization: Argonne National Lab., IL
• OSTI ID: 5374654
• Journal Information: Biotechnol. Bioeng. Symp.; (United States), Journal Name: Biotechnol. Bioeng. Symp.; (United States) Vol. 8; ISSN BIBSB
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

14 SOLAR ENERGY
140600 -- Solar Energy-- Photovoltaic Power Systems
550200* -- Biochemistry
59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
BACTERIA
BIOLOGICAL MODELS
CARBOXYLIC ACIDS
CHEMICAL REACTIONS
CHEMISTRY
CHLOROPHYLL
CONVERSION
ENERGY
ENERGY CONVERSION
ENERGY SOURCES
HETEROCYCLIC ACIDS
HETEROCYCLIC COMPOUNDS
MICROORGANISMS
ORGANIC ACIDS
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
ORGANIC NITROGEN COMPOUNDS
PHOTOCHEMICAL REACTIONS
PHOTOCHEMISTRY
PHOTOSYNTHESIS
PHOTOSYNTHETIC BACTERIA
PHYTOCHROMES
PIGMENTS
PORPHYRINS
RADIATIONS
RENEWABLE ENERGY SOURCES
SOLAR ENERGY
SOLAR ENERGY CONVERSION
SOLAR RADIATION
SYNTHESIS