The Artificial Leaf

Our understanding of the function of Nature’s blueprint of photosynthesis can guide the development of photochemical devices for the conversion of solar energy into fuels. In this workshop the participants will address how the physical boundary conditions imposed by the photochemical thermodynamics of the conversion can be put to use in guiding the design of 3D nanostructured “artificial leaf” topologies that derive from biochemical and biophysical insights on natural water oxidation and on hydrogenases to address the complex chemistry of conversion and storage by systems integration of light-harvesting, photo-induced charge separation and multi-electron photocatalysis functions. Such “artificial leaves” mimic the photosynthesis of plant leaves and could serve in the future to produce renewable fuels from solar energy using water as raw material in an efficient, cheap and robust process. The workshop will be a success if we converge upon a vision on how to optimize the time scale of catalysis for rapid solar to fuel conversion in a nanostructured device.