By Jim Shelton
March 12, 2021
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Prototype of tabletop artificial photosynthesis device.
It’s just possible that artificial photosynthesis is right around the corner.
Photosynthesis is the natural process by which sunlight splits water molecules into oxygen, protons, and electrons and reduces carbon dioxide down to carbohydrates. Artificial photosynthesis is humanity’s attempt to replicate that process in order to sustainably create clean fuels and agricultural fertilizers — all powered by the sun.
Victor Batista, the John Randolph Huffman Professor of Chemistry and faculty member of the Energy Sciences Institute at Yale West Campus, is part of a new, multi-institution project that has made a dramatic leap forward in harnessing artificial photosynthesis.