Liquid sunlight can be considered as a new form of chemical energy converted and stored in chemical bonds from solar energy. Natural photosynthesis in green plants represents one of the most elegant and powerful examples of such a process. As the only energy input into the ecosphere, solar energy positions itself as one of the most promising solutions to address the crisis on the environment and climate change. Efficient capture and storage of solar energy can provide unlimited renewable power sources and drive the capture and conversion of greenhouse gases such as CO2 into valuable chemicals. Such an artificial photosynthetic process presents one of the most important solutions, if not the only one, towards net-zero carbon emission or even negative emission society in the near future.
Solar-to-chemical production using a fully integrated system is an attractive goal, but to-date there has yet to be a system that can demonstrate the required efficiency, durability, or be manufactured at a reasonable cost. One can learn a great deal from the natural photosynthesis where the conversion of carbon dioxide and water to carbohydrates is routinely carried out at a highly coordinated system level. There are several key features worth mentioning in these systems: spatial and directional arrangement of the light-harvesting components, charge separation and transport, as well as the desired chemical conversion at catalytic sites in compartmentalized spaces. In order to design an efficient artificial photosynthetic materials system, at the level of the individual components: better catalysts need to be developed, new light-absorbing semiconductor materials will need to be discovered, architectures will need to be designed for effective capture and conversion of sunlight, and more importantly, processes need to be developed for the efficient coupling and integration of the components into a complete artificial photosynthetic system.
Overall, system-level planning of theoretical and experimental efforts is increasingly important for the development of modern materials science. Materials science has evolved over the past decades so that there is now an increasing need for efforts from the various subfields of materials chemistry and physics to come together to solve grand challenges in energy conversion and storage. Today, materials and system design for novel energy conversion and storage applications requires significant attention towards interfaces between different materials components, as very often these interfaces are rate-limiting for energy transfer, and consequently limiting the overall energy conversion efficiency. In this day and age, investigating isolated components is no longer sufficient to solve the kinds of technological challenges involved in the development of an environmentally benign energy infrastructure. Very often, we have to pay considerable amounts of attention to studying the interface between individual components within a device or system. Therefore it becomes increasingly clear that as the traditional disciplinary lines continue to fade away, modern science will become significantly more integrated and correspondingly far more effective.
Milestones
- 2002 – “Semiconductor nanowire array: potential substrates for photocatalysis and photovoltaics”, Y. Wu, H. Yan, P. Yang, Topics in Catalysis.
- 2009 – Demonstration of the first solar-to-fuel application of semiconductor nanowires. “High density n-Si/n-TiO2 core/shell nanowire arrays with enhanced photoactivity”, Y. J. Hwang, A. Bukai, P. Yang, Nano Lett.
- 2011 – First demonstration of light-induced charge transport within an asymmetric nanowire heterojunction. “Light Induced Charge Transport within a Single Asymmetric Nanowire”, C. Liu, Y. J. Hwang, H. E. Jeong, P. Yang, Nano Lett.
- 2011 – Introduction to the use of semiconductor nanowires from large-scale solution synthesis for photoelectrochemistry. “Surfactant-Free, Large-Scale, Solution-Liquid-Solid (SLS) Growth of Gallium Phosphide Nanowires and Their Use for Visible-Light-Driven Hydrogen Production from Water Reduction”, J. Sun, C. Liu, P. Yang, J. Am. Chem. Soc.
- 2012 – System-level planning of theoretical and experimental efforts is increasingly important for the development of modern materials science. “Towards Systems Materials Engineering”, P. Yang, J. Tarascon, Nature Materials.
- 2013 – “A Fully Integrated Nanosystem of Semiconductor Nanowires for Direct Solar Water Splitting”, C. Liu, J. Tang, H. Chen, B. Liu, P. Yang, Nano Lett.
- 2013 – “Atomic Layer Deposition of Platinum Catalysts on Nanowire Surfaces for Photoelectrochemical Water Reduction”, N. P. Dasgupta, C. Liu, S. Andrews, F. B. Prinz, P. Yang, J. Am. Chem. Soc.
- 2014 – “Semiconductor nanowires for artificial photosynthesis”, C. Liu, N. Dasgupta, P. Yang, Chem. Mater.
- 2014 – “Introductory Lecture: Systems Materials Engineering Approach for Solar-to-Chemical Conversion”, C. Liu, P. Yang, Faraday Discussions.
- 2014 – “All Inorganic Semiconductor Nanowire Mesh for Direct Solar Water Splitting”, B. Liu, C. H. Wu, J. W. Miao, P. Yang, ACS Nano.
- 2015 – “Artificial Photosynthesis for Sustainable Fuel and Chemical Production”, D. Kim, K. K. Sakimoto, D. Hong, P. Yang, Angew. Chem. Int. Ed.
- 2015 – “Nanowire-Bacteria Hybrids for Unassisted Solar Carbon Dioxide Fixation to Value-Added Chemicals”, C. Liu, J. J. Gallagher, K. K. Sakimoto, E. M. Nichols, C. J. Chang, M. C. Y. Chang, P. Yang, Nano Lett.
- 2016 – “Directed assembly of nanoparticle catalysts on nanowire photoelectrodes for photoelectrochemical CO2 reduction”, Qiao Kong, Dohyung Kim, Chong Liu, Yi Yu, Yude Su, Yifan Li, Peidong Yang, Nano Letters.
- 2016 – “Single nanowire photoelectrochemistry”, Y. Su, C. Liu, S. Brittman, J. Tang, A. Fu, P. Yang, Nature Nano.
- 2016 – “TiO2/BiVO4 Nanowire Heterostructure Photoanodes based on Type II Band Alignment”, J. Resasco, H. Zhang, N. Kornienko, N. Becknell, H. Lee, J. Guo, A. Briseno, P. Yang, ACS Central Science.
- 2017 – “Cyborgian Material Design for Solar Fuel Production: The Emerging Photosynthetic Biohybrid Systems”, Kelsey K Sakimoto, Nikolay Kornienko, Peidong Yang, Acc. Chem. Res.
- 2018 – “Semi-artificial photosynthesis: interfacing nature’s catalytic machinery with synthetic materials”, Nikolay Kornienko, Jenny Zhang, Kelsey Sakimoto, Peidong Yang, Erwin Reisner, Nature Nanotechnology.
- 2019 – “Nanowires for Photonics”, Li Na Quan, Joohoon Kang, Cun-Zheng Ning, Peidong Yang, Chem. Rev.
- 2019 – “Nanowire Photoelectrochemistry”, Jiao Deng, Yude Su, Dong Liu, Peidong Yang, Bin Liu, Chong Liu, Chem. Rev.
- 2020 – “Photosynthetic semiconductor biohybrids for solar-driven biocatalysis”, Stefano Cestellos-Blanco, Hao Zhang, Ji Min Kim, Yue-xiao Shen, Peidong Yang, Nature Catalysis.
- 2021 – “Liquid Sunlight: The Evolution of Photosynthetic Biohybrids”, Peidong Yang, Nano Letters.
- 2022 – “Photoelectrochemical CO2 Reduction Towards Multi-carbon Products with Silicon Nanowire Photocathodes Interfaced with Copper Nanoparticles”, Inwhan Roh, Sunmoon Yu, Chung-Kuan Lin, Sheena Louisia, Stefano Cestellos-Blanco, Peidong Yang, J. Am. Chem. Soc.
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