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Hybrid Nanosystems for Artificial Photosynthesis

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A special issue of Nanomaterials (ISSN 2079-4991). This special issue belongs to the section "Energy and Catalysis".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 June 2020) | Viewed by 19750

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Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Jacinto Sá

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Guest Editor

Department of Chemistry-Ångström Laboratory, Uppsala University, 75120 Uppsala, Sweden
Interests: plasmonic hybrid systems; artificial photosynthesis; solar cells; ultrafast spectroscopy
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Proficient conversion of light into chemical energy is vital for sustainable human development. Nature has mastered this in its photosynthesis process, which has been subsequently used as inspiration for manmade processes to convert solar light into chemical bonds, which guarantees storable energy deprived of greenhouse gas emission. Manmade developments or also called artificial photosynthesis include processes, such as water splitting and CO₂ reduction.

Nanomaterials have been central to artificial photosynthesis processes developments, either as light absorbers, charge particles relays and/or storage, catalysts, or as combination of them. Significant advances have been made when achieved when nanomaterials are combined with molecular structures, namely improvement of light harvesting, prolonging charge separation state lifetime, and increase in catalytic activity and selectivity. Additionally, they provide perfect platforms for fundamental studies of light interaction with matter and photocatalysis.

This Special Issue aims to capture the most recent developments on artificial photosynthesis by hybrid nanosystems. These reports can cover aspects from photocatalysis to photophysics and photochemistry studies.

Prof. Dr. Jacinto Sá
Guest Editor

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Keywords

hybrid nanosystems
artificial photosynthesis
water splitting
photocatalysis
spectroscopy
photophysics and photochemistry

Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

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17 pages, 3011 KiB

Open AccessFeature PaperArticle

Mimicking Natural Photosynthesis: Designing Ultrafast Photosensitized Electron Transfer into Multiheme Cytochrome Protein Nanowires

by Daniel R. Marzolf, Aidan M. McKenzie, Matthew C. O’Malley, Nina S. Ponomarenko, Coleman M. Swaim, Tyler J. Brittain, Natalie L. Simmons, Phani Raj Pokkuluri, Karen L. Mulfort, David M. Tiede and Oleksandr Kokhan

Nanomaterials 2020, 10(11), 2143; https://doi.org/10.3390/nano10112143 - 28 Oct 2020

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2796

Abstract

Efficient nanomaterials for artificial photosynthesis require fast and robust unidirectional electron transfer (ET) from photosensitizers through charge-separation and accumulation units to redox-active catalytic sites. We explored the ultrafast time-scale limits of photo-induced charge transfer between a Ru(II)tris(bipyridine) derivative photosensitizer and PpcA, a 3-heme c-type cytochrome serving as a nanoscale biological wire. Four covalent attachment sites (K28C, K29C, K52C, and G53C) were engineered in PpcA enabling site-specific covalent labeling with expected donor-acceptor (DA) distances of 4–8 Å. X-ray scattering results demonstrated that mutations and chemical labeling did not disrupt the structure of the proteins. Time-resolved spectroscopy revealed three orders of magnitude difference in charge transfer rates for the systems with otherwise similar DA distances and the same number of covalent bonds separating donors and acceptors. All-atom molecular dynamics simulations provided additional insight into the structure-function requirements for ultrafast charge transfer and the requirement of van der Waals contact between aromatic atoms of photosensitizers and hemes in order to observe sub-nanosecond ET. This work demonstrates opportunities to utilize multi-heme c-cytochromes as frameworks for designing ultrafast light-driven ET into charge-accumulating biohybrid model systems, and ultimately for mimicking the photosynthetic paradigm of efficiently coupling ultrafast, light-driven electron transfer chemistry to multi-step catalysis within small, experimentally versatile photosynthetic biohybrid assemblies. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Hybrid Nanosystems for Artificial Photosynthesis)

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11 pages, 3559 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Molecular Linking Selectivity on Self-Assembled Metal-Semiconductor Nano-Hybrid Systems

by Thinh Luong The Nguyen, Alba Gascón Nicolás, Tomas Edvinsson, Jie Meng, Kaibo Zheng, Mohamed Abdellah and Jacinto Sá

Nanomaterials 2020, 10(7), 1378; https://doi.org/10.3390/nano10071378 - 15 Jul 2020

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2953

Abstract

Plasmonics nanoparticles gained prominence in the last decade in fields of photonics, solar energy conversion and catalysis. It has been shown that anchoring the plasmonics nanoparticles on semiconductors via a molecular linker reduces band bending and increases hot carriers’ lifetime, which is essential for the development of efficient photovoltaic devices and photocatalytic systems. Aminobenzoic acid is a commonly used linker to connect the plasmonic metal to an oxide-based semiconductor. The coordination to the oxide was established to occur via the carboxylic functional group, however, it remains unclear what type of coordination that is established with the metal site. Herein, it is demonstrated that metal is covalently bonded to the linker via the amino group, as supported by Surface-Enhanced Resonant Raman and infrared spectroscopies. The covalent linkage increases significantly the amount of silver grafted, resulting in an improvement of the system catalytic proficiency in the 4-nitrophenol (4-NP) photoreduction. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Hybrid Nanosystems for Artificial Photosynthesis)

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10 pages, 3092 KiB

Open AccessArticle

InGaN Nanorods Decorated with Au Nanoparticles for Enhanced Water Splitting Based on Surface Plasmon Resonance Effects

by Qing Liu, Jiang Shi, Zhenzhu Xu, Bolin Zhang, Hongliang Liu, Yinlei Lin, Fangliang Gao, Shuti Li and Guoqiang Li

Nanomaterials 2020, 10(5), 912; https://doi.org/10.3390/nano10050912 - 9 May 2020

Cited by 15 | Viewed by 3204

Abstract

Photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting has great application potential in converting solar energy into hydrogen energy. However, what stands in the way of the practical application of this technology is the low conversion efficiency, which can be promoted by optimizing the material structure and device design for surface functionalization. In this work, we deposited gold nanoparticles (Au NPs) with different loading densities on the surface of InGaN nanorod (NR) arrays through a chemical solvent route to obtain a composite PEC water splitting system. Enhanced photocatalytic activity, which can be demonstrated by the surface plasmon resonance (SPR) effect induced by Au NPs, occurred and was further confirmed to be associated with the different loading densities of Au NPs. These discoveries use solar water splitting as a platform and provide ideas for exploring the mechanism of SPR enhancement. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Hybrid Nanosystems for Artificial Photosynthesis)

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19 pages, 6200 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Carbon Nanotubes Incorporated Z-Scheme Assembly of AgBr/TiO₂ for Photocatalytic Hydrogen Production under Visible Light Irradiations

by Nasir Shezad, Ibrahim M. Maafa, Khairiraihanna Johari, Ainy Hafeez, Parveen Akhter, Maira Shabir, Ali Raza, Hirra Anjum, Murid Hussain and Muhammad Tahir

Nanomaterials 2019, 9(12), 1767; https://doi.org/10.3390/nano9121767 - 11 Dec 2019

Cited by 14 | Viewed by 3165

Abstract

Photocatalytic H₂ production is a promising strategy toward green energy and alternative to carbon-based fuels which are the root cause of global warming and pollution. In this study, carbon nanotubes (CNTs) incorporated Z-scheme assembly of AgBr/TiO₂ was developed for photocatalytic H₂ production under visible light irradiations. Synthesized photocatalysts were characterized through transmission electron microscope (TEM), X-ray photoelectron spectra (XPS), X-ray diffractometer (XRD), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), photoluminescence spectra (PL), Brunauer Emmet-Teller(BET), and UV-vis spectroscopy analysis techniques. The composite photocatalysts exhibited a H₂ production of 477 ppm which was three-folds higher than that produced by TiO₂. The good performance was attributed to the strong interaction of three components and the reduced charge recombination, which was 89 and 56.3 times lower than the TiO₂ and AgBr/TiO₂. Furthermore, the role of surface acidic and basic groups was assessed and the photocatalytic results demonstrated the importance of surface functional groups. In addition, the composites exhibited stability and reusability for five consecutive cycles of reaction. Thus, improved performance of the photocatalyst was credited to the CNTs as an electron mediator, surface functional groups, higher surface area, enhanced charge separation and extended visible light absorption edge. This work provides new development of Z-scheme photocatalysts for sustainable H₂ production. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Hybrid Nanosystems for Artificial Photosynthesis)

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Review

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32 pages, 12406 KiB

Open AccessReview

Carbon Sphere Template Derived Hollow Nanostructure for Photocatalysis and Gas Sensing

by Zirui Lou, Yichen Wang, Yingchen Yang, Yanwen Wang, Chao Qin, Rong Liang, Xuehua Chen, Zhizhen Ye and Liping Zhu

Nanomaterials 2020, 10(2), 378; https://doi.org/10.3390/nano10020378 - 21 Feb 2020

Cited by 13 | Viewed by 6233

Abstract

As a green and preferred technology for energy crisis and environmental issues, continuous research on photocatalysis and gas sensing has come forth at an explosive rate. Thus far, promising synthetic methods have enabled various designs and preparations of semiconductor-based nanostructure which have shown superior activity. This review summarized various synthetic routines toward carbon sphere template derived hollow nanostructures and their successful attempts in synthesize doping, solid solution, heterostructure, and surface modified nanostructures for heterogeneous photocatalysis and gas sensing. Moreover, the challenges and future prospects are briefly discussed. It is eagerly anticipated that this review may broaden the view and in-depth understanding of carbon sphere template derived hollow nanostructures while expected to have further progresses in heterogeneous photocatalysis, gas sensing and other related fields which will make great contributions to their application. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Hybrid Nanosystems for Artificial Photosynthesis)

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