Oxygen is the basis of life of all creatures on our planet. And there he was, as we know from school biology course, in the process of photosynthesis taking place in leaves and stems of plants. Scientists with varying degrees of success many times attempted to repeat this process in the laboratory, but to achieve an acceptable result was not possible until now. But that could change thanks to the research of American experts, who have created a special kind of molecules able to participate in the processes of artificial photosynthesis.
For the development of responsible experts from the National laboratory of Brookhaven under the leadership of Gerald Manaka. In the course of a series of research they managed to create a few supramolecule in which light-harvesting ruthenium is attached to the catalytic center metal ions of rhodium. Supramolecule represent a large formation consisting of different numbers of molecular entities of a lower order. Supramolecule tend to “gather” in the spatial structure, being the basis of biological entities such as cell membranes.
According to scientists, through the use of two supramolecule the productivity of each electron increases significantly: one such molecule is able in the course of a series of reactions to be separated from a mixture of carbon dioxide and other gases 280 molecules of hydrogen and oxygen in 10 hours. It is worth saying that the earlier record in this area accounted for 40 of the molecules in 4 hours. This high reaction speed can help to create an environmentally friendly source of fuel using photosynthesis. The installation on the basis of supramolecule can remove carbon dioxide from air pollutants, thus “killing two birds at once”: purifying the air and releasing hydrogen, which can be used to create clean energy.
Scientists have approached the creation of units for artificial photosynthesis
Vladimir Kuznetsov