Artificial leaves produce gasoline

American scientists have successfully developed artificial leaves that can produce fuels such as gasoline and methane from CO2 and environmentally friendly sunlight.

There are artificial leaves that produce gasoline

According to Iflscience, the team claims it is an important step towards using renewable fuels to meet all needs, from heating to transportation, without causing any greenhouse gases. Come on.

The breakthrough was published in the August issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, led by Peidong Yang and colleagues at the Energy and Science Institute of Kavli, University of California, Berkeley.

Artificial leaf pattern.(Photo: Iflscience).

It is based on natural photosynthesis processes, when water and carbon dioxide are converted by sugar into sugar - an organic fuel. By refining this process through artificial photosynthesis, we can create a variety of different products.

To demonstrate the feasibility of the project, the team created methane gas, instead of sugar, from carbon dioxide by their system. The device operates based on a combination of semiconductor nanobacteria and bacteria. Using inorganic catalysts, water is separated into hydrogen, then living cells use, converting carbon dioxide into chemical products - in this case, methane.

"We can create electrons from light in a fruitful way, but our systems have always been limited by synthetic chemistry , " Yang said. "One of the purposes of this experiment is to show that we can integrate microbial catalysts with semiconductor technology. This allows us to understand and optimize a real photosynthetic system. artificiality ".

A similar system was invented by Yang and his team earlier this year to produce butanol, a component of gasoline, and various biochemical materials. Next, they will try to create an artificial system that absolutely does not need bacteria. This system is based on design in nature to regenerate photosynthesis, and ultimately produce liquid fuel with usability for months or years.

Diagram of reaction principle of artificial leaves.(Photo: Iflscience).

"We don't want to imitate nature mechanically and stereotyped," said Ted Sargent, deputy head of the Department of Applied and Technical Sciences at the University of Toronto. "Instead, we want to learn from nature, from the principles of nature to create a convincing and selective catalyst, and then use these insights to create out better technology solutions ".

Therefore, although artificial leaves cannot be used to power homes or cars immediately, this can be a significant step towards that goal.