Prof. Tapas Maji & team mimic photosynthesis, convert CO2 into solar fuel
Scientists have developed a method to mimic nature’s process of reducing carbon dioxide in the atmosphere—photosynthesis—to capture excess CO 2 This artificial photosynthesis (AP) harnesses solar energy to convert captured carbon dioxide into carbon monoxide (CO), which can be used as a fuel for internal combustion engines.
In artificial photosynthesis (AP), scientists replicate the fundamental process of natural photosynthesis using simpler nanostructures. However, developing an efficient catalyst for AP remains a significant challenge.
A team of scientists from the Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research (JNCASR), an autonomous institute under the Department of Science and Technology (DST), Government of India, has designed and fabricated an integrated catalytic system based on a metal-organic framework (MOF-808). This system includes a photosensitizer—molecules that absorb light and transfer electrons to a nearby molecule—to harness solar power, along with a catalytic center that facilitates CO2 reduction. Their work has been accepted for publication in the journal Energy & Environmental Science of the Royal Society of Chemistry, UK.
