The artificial leaf accomplishes a solar fuels process that captures the elements of photosynthesis – the splitting of water to hydrogen and oxygen using light, from neutral water, at atmospheric pressure and room temperature. These conditions are met owing to the development of <i>self-healing </i>oxygen-evolving catalysts of the elements of Mn, Co and Ni. The design principles for self-healing will be presented followed by our latest elaboration of the artificial leaf. We demonstrate a path to biomass and liquid fuels by interfacing the artificial leaf with a bio-engineered organism to convert carbon dioxide, along with the hydrogen produced from the artificial leaf, into biomass and fusel alcohols. In this hybrid microbial | artificial leaf system, solar-to-biomass and solar-to-fuels yields surpassing 10% and 5%, respectively, have been achieved.

Solar-to-fuels conversion by the artificial leaf

251st National Meeting (2016)

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