Artificial photosynthesis for production of hydrogen peroxide and its fuel cells

The reducing power released from photosystem I (PSI) via ferredoxin enables the reduction of NADP⁺ to NADPH, which is essential in the Calvin-Benson cycle to make sugars in photosynthesis. Alternatively, PSI can reduce O₂ to produce hydrogen peroxide as a fuel. This article describes the artificial version of the photocatalytic production of hydrogen peroxide from water and O₂ using solar energy. Hydrogen peroxide is used as a fuel in hydrogen peroxide fuel cells to make electricity. The combination of the photocatalytic H₂O₂ production from water and O₂ using solar energy with one-compartment H₂O₂ fuel cells provides on-site production and usage of H₂O₂ as a more useful and promising solar fuel than hydrogen. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled Biodesign for Bioenergetics - The design and engineering of electronc transfer cofactors, proteins and protein networks, edited by Ronald L. Koder and J.L. Ross Anderson.