Posted on 11/04/2025 8:15:20 AM PST by Red Badger
Semi-artificial organic photocathode in operation. Credit: Celine Yeung
Researchers at Cambridge have developed a solar-powered device that imitates photosynthesis to turn CO2, sunlight, and water into valuable chemical fuels.
Their non-toxic “semi-artificial leaf” can run continuously and efficiently, producing pharmaceutical compounds with high purity. The discovery could help replace fossil fuels in chemical manufacturing and spark a new era of green chemistry.
Sustainable Chemistry Breakthrough
Scientists have found a sustainable new method for producing the essential chemicals that make up thousands of products we use every day, including plastics and cosmetics.
The global chemical industry manufactures an enormous range of compounds by transforming raw materials, most often fossil fuels, into finished goods. Because of its vast scale and reliance on these carbon-heavy resources, the sector is responsible for around 6% of global carbon emissions.
Now, a team led by the University of Cambridge is working on innovative techniques that could eventually “de-fossilize” this crucial industry and make chemical production far more sustainable.
The Semi-Artificial Leaf
The researchers have designed a hybrid system that joins light-absorbing organic polymers with bacterial enzymes to transform sunlight, water, and carbon dioxide into formate—a clean fuel that can drive other chemical reactions.
This “semi-artificial leaf” imitates photosynthesis, the natural process plants use to capture and store solar energy, and it operates entirely without an external power supply. Unlike earlier versions that relied on unstable or toxic materials, this new biohybrid model is safer, more durable, and doesn’t require additional additives that can reduce performance.
Semi-artificial organic photocathode. Credit: Celine Yeung
Turning CO2 Into Valuable Chemicals
During testing, the team successfully used sunlight to convert carbon dioxide into formate and then applied that formate directly in a “domino” sequence of reactions to create an important pharmaceutical compound, achieving impressive yield and purity.
Their results, reported in the journal Joule, mark the first time that organic semiconductors have been used as the light-harvesting component in this type of biohybrid device, opening the door to a new family of sustainable artificial leaves.
The chemical industry is central to the world economy, producing products from pharmaceuticals and fertilizers, to plastics, paints, electronics, cleaning products, and toiletries.
“If we’re going to build a circular, sustainable economy, the chemical industry is a big, complex problem that we must address,” said Professor Erwin Reisner from Cambridge’s Yusuf Hamied Department of Chemistry, who led the research. “We’ve got to come up with ways to de-fossilize this important sector, which produces so many important products we all need. It’s a huge opportunity if we can get it right.”
A Cleaner Approach to Artificial Photosynthesis
Reisner’s research group specializes in the development of artificial leaves, which turn sunlight into carbon-based fuels and chemicals without relying on fossil fuels. But many of their earlier designs depend on synthetic catalysts or inorganic semiconductors, which either degrade quickly, waste much of the solar spectrum, or contain toxic elements such as lead.
“If we can remove the toxic components and start using organic elements, we end up with a clean chemical reaction and a single end product, without any unwanted side reactions,” said co-first author Dr. Celine Yeung, who completed the research as part of her PhD work in Reisner’s lab. “This device combines the best of both worlds – organic semiconductors are tuneable and non-toxic, while biocatalysts are highly selective and efficient.”
The new device integrates organic semiconductors with enzymes from sulfate-reducing bacteria, splitting water into hydrogen and oxygen or converting carbon dioxide into formate.
Cracking the Enzyme Stability Puzzle
The researchers have also addressed a long-standing challenge: most systems require chemical additives, known as buffers, to keep the enzymes running. These can break down quickly and limit stability. By embedding a helper enzyme, carbonic anhydrase, into a porous titania structure, the researchers enabled the system to work in a simple bicarbonate solution — similar to sparkling water — without unsustainable additives.
“It’s like a big puzzle,” said co-first author Dr. Yongpeng Liu, a postdoctoral researcher in Reisner’s lab. “We have all these different components that we’ve been trying to bring together for a single purpose. It took us a long time to figure out how this specific enzyme is immobilized on an electrode, but we’re now starting to see the fruits from these efforts.”
“By really studying how the enzyme works, we were able to precisely design the materials that make up the different layers of our sandwich-like device,” said Yeung. “This design made the parts work together more effectively, from the tiny nanoscale up to the full artificial leaf.”
Record Efficiency and Durability
Tests showed the artificial leaf produced high currents and achieved near-perfect efficiency in directing electrons into fuel-making reactions. The device successfully ran for over 24 hours: more than twice as long as previous designs.
The researchers are hoping to further develop their designs to extend the lifespan of the device and adapt it so it can produce different types of chemical products.
“We’ve shown it’s possible to create solar-powered devices that are not only efficient and durable but also free from toxic or unsustainable components,” said Reisner. “This could be a fundamental platform for producing green fuels and chemicals in future – it’s a real opportunity to do some exciting and important chemistry.”
Reference:
“Semi-artificial leaf interfacing organic semiconductors and enzymes for solar chemical synthesis”
by Celine Wing See Yeung, Yongpeng Liu, David M. Vahey, Samuel J. Cobb, Virgil Andrei, Ana M. Coito, Rita R. Manuel, Inês A.C. Pereira and Erwin Reisner, 10 October 2025, Joule.
DOI: 10.1016/j.joule.2025.102165
The research was supported in part by the Singapore Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), the European Research Council, the Swiss National Science Foundation, the Royal Academy of Engineering, and UK Research and Innovation (UKRI). Erwin Reisner is a Fellow of St John’s College, Cambridge. Celine Yeung is a Member of Downing College, Cambridge.
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Exactly.
That’s right.
next step: economically construct square miles of this stuff that runs for longer than 24 hours in a sunny desert ...
Pave Paradise, put up an electronic forest.
Hooray.
Yippee.
And starve to death...................
Another process that will only work in day time; which is not a limitation of current processes; and current 24 hour non-stop production processes help keep unit costs of production down. So which method is “sustainable”??
you vill eat ze insects
This could work quite well on Mars...paging SpaceX!
Scientist recreate the wheel
Don’t these
“ scientists “
know that plants breath in co2 and exhale oxygen ?
freaking morons.
No idea.
Just plant more trees.
The most pathetic excuse I ever heard for not planting trees is that people don’t want to rake leaves.
Fer crying out loud, grab a rake and get some exercise....
Like oxygen for living and wood for building, making stuff, and heating with??????
Will it produce artificial bacon? I already have sun powered natural leaves that do that.
This could have applications where plants wouldn’t grow such as underground mining operations or in a factory. I also wonder if it would work for a SCUBA re-breather unit.
The percentage of carbon dioxide in the Earth’s atmosphere
As of July 26, 2025, the daily average concentration of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the Earth’s atmosphere was 426.91 parts per million (ppm). This translates to approximately 0.0427% of the atmosphere.
.04%
Joe Rogan Reacts To Congressman Destroying Fake Climate Experts
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/5iH3aHmhTZA
Right now there are more trees on the earth then there have been in thousands of years. The extra Co2 is causing the greening of the world.
In the year 1800, atmospheric carbon dioxide (\(CO_{2}\)) levels were approximately \(278\) parts per million (ppm). This value is used as the pre-industrial baseline because \(CO_{2}\) levels had been stable around this concentration for thousands of years before the industrial revolution began to increase human-caused emissions. Since 1800, these levels have risen dramatically, reaching over \(430\) ppm as of 2025.
Pre-industrial average: The average global \(CO_{2}\) concentration from 1750 to 1800 was around \(278\) ppm.Source of increase: The steady rise in \(CO_{2}\) levels since 1800 is primarily due to the burning of fossil fuels and other human activities.Rate of change: The increase from 1800 to 1900 was about \(10\) ppm, while the increase from 1900 to 2000 was \(100\) ppm, showing the rate of increase has accelerated significantly.
Current levels: By March 2021, levels had reached around \(417\) ppm, a more than 50% increase over the pre-industrial average. As of 2025, levels have surpassed \(430\) ppm.
what just make me pan and disbelieve all the climate hysteria is that USA East Coast tide gauges in place since 1600s show no sea level change. NOAA has recently admitted sea levels are FALLING.
How to lie.
#1 Tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth but not all of it.
#2 Tell the truth the whole truth but in a manner that is unbelievable.
#3 Tell the lie, long, loud and repetitively, rinse and repeat.
“All surveys are subject to multiple sources of error. Most of these errors are often impossible to quantify. In addition to sampling error, these errors include coverage error, non-response error, interviewer bias when appropriate, and the error associated with how a question is asked or the response options given.”
Unquoted/named, UN-verified sources, the survey questions are not available for review. How you ask a question is just as important as what you ask.
1997, 14 year old Nathan Zohner was able to get 43 out of 50 of his classmates to vote to ban “Dihydrogen Monoxide” for his science fair project. His project aimed to prove that the use of true facts can lead the ignorant public to false conclusions. He won first prize.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dihydrogen_monoxide_hoax#cite_ref-17
The Dihydrogen Monoxide Conspiracy
http://www.eatliver.com/dihydrogen-monoxide/
Christine Stewart, former Canadian Environment Minister: “No matter if the science is all phoney, there are collateral environmental benefits.... climate change [provides] the greatest chance to bring about justice and equality in the world.”
Timothy Wirth, U.S./UN functionary, former elected Democrat Senator: “We’ve got to ride the global-warming issue. Even if the theory of global warming is wrong, we will be doing the right thing in terms of economic policy and environmental policy.”
Richard Benedik, former U.S./UN bureaucrat: “A global climate treaty must be implemented even if there is no scientific evidence to back the greenhouse effect.”
Ottmar Edenhoffer, high level UN-IPCC official: “We redistribute de facto the world’s wealth by climate policy...Basically it’s a big mistake to discuss climate policy separately from the major themes of globalization...One has to free oneself from the illusion that international climate policy is environmental policy. This has almost nothing to do with environmental policy anymore.”
Big Science is broken
http://theweek.com/articles/618141/big-science-broken
1,500 scientists lift the lid on reproducibility — Survey sheds light on the ‘crisis’ rocking research.
http://www.nature.com/news/1-500-scientists-lift-the-lid-on-reproducibility-1.19970?WT.mc_id=TWT_NatureNews
Most scientists ‘can’t replicate studies by their peers
http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-39054778
“Peer Reviewed:” Science Losing Credibility As Large Amounts Of Research Shown To Be False
http://wakingscience.com/2017/03/peer-reviewed-science-losing-credibility-large-amounts-research-shown-false/
Scientists get peer-reviewed journals to publish nonsense based on ‘Star Wars’ to prove a point
http://www.bizpacreview.com/2017/07/24/scientists-get-peer-reviewed-journals-publish-nonsense-based-star-wars-prove-point-517468
NASA Exposed in ‘Massive’ New Climate Data Fraud
http://www.principia-scientific.org/nasa-exposed-in-massive-new-climate-data-fraud.html
NOAA’s climate change science fiction
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/nov/26/lamar-smith-noaas-climate-change-science-fiction/
EXCLUSIVE: NOAA Relies On ‘Compromised’ Thermometers That Inflate US Warming Trend
http://dailycaller.com/2015/12/17/exclusive-noaa-relies-on-compromised-thermometers-that-inflate-u-s-warming-trend/
NOAA September Temperature Fraud
http://realclimatescience.com/2016/11/noaa-september-temperature-fraud/
NOAA Adjustments Correlate Exactly To Their Confirmation Bias
http://realclimatescience.com/2016/11/noaa-adjustments-correlate-exactly-to-their-confirmation-bias/
“Atmospheric satellite data, considered by many to be the most objective, has clearly showed no warming for the past two decades. This fact is well documented, but has been embarrassing for an administration determined to push through costly environmental regulations.”
Global carbon emissions nearly stalled in 2014
http://www.nature.com/news/global-carbon-emissions-nearly-stalled-in-2014-1.18897?WT.mc_id=TWT_NatureNews
The fiddling with temperature data is the biggest science scandal ever
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/earth/environment/globalwarming/11395516/The-fiddling-with-temperature-data-is-the-biggest-science-scandal-ever.html
EXCLUSIVE: NOAA Relies On ‘Compromised’ Thermometers That Inflate US Warming Trend
http://dailycaller.com/2015/12/17/exclusive-noaa-relies-on-compromised-thermometers-that-inflate-u-s-warming-trend/
Press Release – Watts at #AGU15 The quality of temperature station siting matters for temperature trends
http://wattsupwiththat.com/2015/12/17/press-release-agu15-the-quality-of-temperature-station-siting-matters-for-temperature-trends/
Climate myths: Ice cores show CO2 increases lag behind temperature rises, disproving the link to global warming
https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn11659-climate-myths-ice-cores-show-co2-increases-lag-behind-temperature-rises-disproving-the-link-to-global-warming/
The Long-Range Climate Forecast Goes Bust
http://www.cato.org/publications/commentary/long-range-climate-forecast-goes-bust?utm_content=buffer28463&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer
Parched Earth soaks up water, slowing sea level rise
http://news.yahoo.com/parched-earth-soaks-water-slowing-sea-level-rise-231245199.html
Sea level falling for past six years...
https://stevengoddard.wordpress.com/2016/03/23/falling-sea-level/
Claimed 3.2 Millimeters Per Year Sea Level Rise Seriously Challenged By Recently Published Scientific Papers!
http://notrickszone.com/2016/03/15/claimed-3-2-millimeters-per-year-sea-level-rise-seriously-challenged-by-recently-published-scientific-papers/#sthash.8nhCcG18.XCPsauYb.dpbs
Antarctic Sea Ice Has Not Shrunk In 100 Years
http://www.climatedepot.com/2016/11/24/antarctic-sea-ice-has-not-shrunk-in-100-years/
The Global Warming Hoax | Lord Monckton and Stefan Molyneux
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DrWznOFq38s
Related AnnouncementsRelease of RSS V4.0 TMT and TTT Air Temperature Data
Upper Air Temperature
http://www.remss.com/measurements/upper-air-temperature
100% Of US Warming Is Due To NOAA Data Tampering
http://realclimatescience.com/2016/12/100-of-us-warming-is-due-to-noaa-data-tampering/
The Deplorable Climate Science Blog
http://realclimatescience.com/2017/01/arctic-sea-ice-the-same-thickness-as-1940/
Ocean Islands Are Not Sinking
http://canadafreepress.com/article/ocean-islands-are-not-sinking
2016 was the hottest year on record — again
http://www.cnn.com/2017/01/18/world/2016-hottest-year/index.html
Opps more CNN Fake news.
Why NYT Hid The Numbers For The ‘Hottest Year On Record’
http://thefederalist.com/2017/01/18/nyt-hid-numbers-hottest-year-record/
Exposed: How world leaders were duped into investing billions over manipulated global warming data
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-4192182/World-leaders-duped-manipulated-global-warming-data.html
Former NOAA Scientist Confirms Colleagues Manipulated Climate Records
https://science.house.gov/news/press-releases/former-noaa-scientist-confirms-colleagues-manipulated-climate-records
“For Fame And Fund”… Japanese Scientist Accuses Four Climate Researchers, IPCC, Of “Fake Science”
http://notrickszone.com/2017/07/30/for-fame-and-fund-japanese-scientist-accuses-four-climate-researchers-ipcc-of-fake-science/#sthash.By0GyokD.dpbs
TEMPERATURE READINGS PLUNGE AFTER AUSTRALIA’S BUREAU OF METEOROLOGY ORDERS END TO ‘TAMPERING’ http://www.climatedepot.com/2017/08/04/temperatures-plunge-after-australias-bureau-of-meteorology-orders-fix/
Weather Channel founder denies climate change, so ‘put me to death’
http://mynewsla.com/hollywood/2017/08/17/weather-channel-founder-denies-climate-change-so-put-me-to-death/
Delingpole: Ship of Fools IV: Another Green Arctic Expedition Scuppered by Ice
http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2017/09/01/delingpole-ship-of-fools-iv-another-green-arctic-expedition-scuppered-by-ice/
‘We Faked It!’ – Top Obama Official Stabs Him In The Back With Huge Admission
https://www.usapoliticstoday.com/official-climate-change-obama/
Warm air helped make 2017 ozone hole smallest since 1988
November 2, 2017 by Katy Mersmann
https://phys.org/news/2017-11-air-ozone-hole-smallest.html
NINE YEARS AGO… Al Gore Predicted North Pole Would Be Completely Ice Free by Today
http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2017/12/nine-years-ago-al-gore-predicted-north-pole-completely-ice-free-today/
Record Breaking Winter Cold? Don’t Worry, the Climate Explainers Have it Covered
https://wattsupwiththat.com/2017/12/28/record-breaking-winter-cold-dont-worry-the-climate-explainers-have-it-covered/
Climate change shock: Burning fossil fuels ‘COOLS planet’, says NASA
http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/628524/Climate-change-shock-Burning-fossil-fuels-COOLs-planet-says-NASA
Climate spin: Documents reveal EPA’s projection of reducing “premature deaths” with clean power was grossly misleading – reduction of carbon dioxide would NOT prevent deaths
https://www.naturalnews.com/2018-01-01-climate-spin-documents-reveal-epas-projection-of-reducing-premature-deaths-with-clean-power-was-misleading.html#
New Study Shows Past Research On Rising Ocean Temps Built On Faulty Science
http://dailycaller.com/2018/01/05/new-study-shows-past-research-on-rising-ocean-temps-built-on-faulty-science/
The ice packs and glaciers are melting but not as fast as we thought. The sea level has well kinda stayed the same, but I am sure one of you climate mongers out there can show me a yard stick, a rock or anything that has been under human observation for the past hundred years that can be photographed to show the horrible and epic rise of the level of the oceans?
Any one? I thought not. Because every climate monger, political poser and climate change, global warming nitwit would have been there taking selfies there and have geo-located it.
#Lies, agenda drive fakery and out right froud.
PHONEY
Christine Stewart, former Canadian Environment Minister: “No matter if the science is all phoney, there are collateral environmental benefits.... climate change [provides] the greatest chance to bring about justice and equality in the world.”
Timothy Wirth, U.S./UN functionary, former elected Democrat Senator: “We’ve got to ride the global-warming issue. Even if the theory of global warming is wrong, we will be doing the right thing in terms of economic policy and environmental policy.”
Richard Benedik, former U.S./UN bureaucrat: “A global climate treaty must be implemented even if there is no scientific evidence to back the greenhouse effect.”
Ottmar Edenhoffer, high level UN-IPCC official: “We redistribute de facto the world’s wealth by climate policy...Basically it’s a big mistake to discuss climate policy separately from the major themes of globalization...One has to free oneself from the illusion that international climate policy is environmental policy. This has almost nothing to do with environmental policy anymore.”
Big Science is broken
http://theweek.com/articles/618141/big-science-broken
1,500 scientists lift the lid on reproducibility — Survey sheds light on the ‘crisis’ rocking research.
http://www.nature.com/news/1-500-scientists-lift-the-lid-on-reproducibility-1.19970?WT.mc_id=TWT_NatureNews
Most scientists ‘can’t replicate studies by their peers
http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-39054778
“Peer Reviewed:” Science Losing Credibility As Large Amounts Of Research Shown To Be False
http://wakingscience.com/2017/03/peer-reviewed-science-losing-credibility-large-amounts-research-shown-false/
Scientists get peer-reviewed journals to publish nonsense based on ‘Star Wars’ to prove a point
http://www.bizpacreview.com/2017/07/24/scientists-get-peer-reviewed-journals-publish-nonsense-based-star-wars-prove-point-517468
This could be quite revolutionary until the co2 ran out. 😆
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