Scientists at ASU’s Center for the Study of Early Events in Photosynthesis are one step closer to mimicking the way plants harvest and exploit the sun’s energy.

The researchers used a microscopic device to convert light into chemical energy, which in turn can be harnessed and used for other purposes. Ultimately the development could lead to new strategies for harnessing solar power. Related research could lead to higher crop yields, imaging agents for the earlier detection of cancerous tumors, and faster, smaller electronic circuits.

Chemists Devens Gust, Thomas A. Moore, Ana L. Moore, and other colleagues at the photosynthesis center published their latest findings in the Jan. 16, 1997 issue of the British journal Nature.

“This is the next step toward an ultimate goal of building a completely artificial, or mainly artificial biological power plant,” Gust says.

The raw ingredient of that power plant—light—is ubiquitous and renewable. But it does not power anything on its own.

“You can’t run your car directly off of light, or a tape recorder, or anything else,” Gust explains. “You have to convert it into some other kind of energy. Plants do this through a fairly complicated process.”

Artificial photosynthesis offers a simpler alternative.

“Our system does basically the same thing that Nature does,” Thomas Moore says. “But our system has several thousand fewer parts.” Fewer atoms, that is.

In agriculture, scientists could use their knowledge of photosynthesis to adapt plants for specific purposes, Gust explains. For example, crops could be tailored to resist herbicides or to grow more efficiently.

The world of medicine offers another opportunity to apply the group’s basic research. The ASU team is collaborating with the Arizona Disease Control Commission and a major drug manufacturer.

“We’ve developed a series of drugs that potentially can be used to identify and image cancer tumor cells,” Moore says.

Artificial photosynthesis research also influences the emerging field of molecular electronics, Gust continues. Traditionally, transistors are constructed from large pieces of silicon; the trick has been to make them smaller and smaller. Scientists hope to start at the molecular level and build circuits atom by atom.

If the approach proves possible, Gusts says the result would be smaller, faster circuits that use less power. The idea may be years from reality, but the ASU team has begun preliminary research in molecular electronics.—Erik Ellis

Go to: Physical Science: Chemistry

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