Yes to nanostructure chem factories

Sounds simple enough, so why is it taking us so long? It’s all about designing and making the right photocatalyst in the correct form that exhibits sufficient reactant activity and product selectivity to do the task. This is not a simple problem to solve because management of the energetics and control of the dynamics of sunlight-generated electron–hole pairs have to be finely tuned through material composition and structural engineering to optimize multi-electron oxidation and reduction reactions of H₂O and CO₂ that underpin the formation of a specific organic product. 

This is where the strengths of a nanochemistry approach to nanoscale materials are likely to come into play, with all the advantages of synthetic control over their size and shape, bulk and surface composition, porosity and surface area, and their ability to self-assemble into constructions with structure, property and function relations designed to mimic the photosynthetic solar fuel machinery of plants as imagined in the graphical illustration of an artificial leaf made and powered by nanochemistry (see article’s main image, courtesy of Dr. Wendong Wang).

If this could be accomplished at a globally significant rate at a globally meaningful scale and at a globally competitive cost, there would be nothing artificial about the magnitude of this scientific and technological achievement and humankind would be able to turn over a new leaf and enjoy the benefits of having learned from nature’s solar fuel factories a much better way to power the planet and keep it safe and clean! Geoffrey Ozin published: 2011-08-19