Working Groups
Artificial photosynthesis
State of research, scientific and technological challenges, future technologies
The potential of solar energy use is just as great as the scientific and technological questions associated with it. New biomimetic and carbon-based approaches are currently being pursued for applications in both photovoltaics and artificial photosynthesis.
Through artificial photosynthesis, the efficiency of the natural process itself could be increased in the long term, for example through genetic engineering or synthetic biology. Such bio-inspired energy research is placed somewhere between bio and nanotechnology, with important input from molecular biology and microbiology. Light-dependent metal catalysis techniques, for example involving the photocatalytic conversion of CO2 to methanol, can be seen as alternative, complementary or supplementary approaches. Here, sunlight is absorbed by organic dyes and its energy is used to activate CO2 in a combination of new catalytic processes and approaches from nanotechnology and materials research.
The aim of the project is to provide an initial overview of the various research trends in this field and to establish a concrete research demand in Germany for its technical usability until the year 2050.
Institutions
- National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina
- Union of the German Academies of Sciences and Humanities
- German Academy of Science and Technology acatech (responsible)
Members of the Working Group
- Prof. Dr. Markus Antonietti
MPI für Kolloid- und Grenzflächenforschung - Prof. Dr. Matthias Beller ML
Leibniz-Institut für Katalyse e.V. (Leitung) - Prof. Dr. Peter Dabrock
Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg - Prof. Dr. Holger Dau
Freie Universität Berlin - Dr. Tobias J. Erb
MPI für Terrestrische Mikrobiologie - Prof. Dr. Bärbel Friedrich ML
Stiftung Alfried Krupp Kolleg Greifswald - Prof. Dr. Michael Grätzel ML
EPFL Lausanne - Prof. Dr. Elizabeth von Hauff
Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam - Prof. Dr. Robert Huber ML
MPI für Biochemie - Prof. Dr.-Ing. Rupert Klein
Freie Universität Berlin - Prof. Dr. Burkhard König
Universität Regensburg - Prof. Dr. Philipp Kurz
Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg - Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Lubitz
MPI für Chemische Energiekonversion - Prof. Dr. Bernd Müller-Röber
Universität Potsdam - Prof. Dr. Hans Peter Peters
Forschungszentrum Jülich - Prof. Dr. Alfred Pühler ML
Universität Bielefeld - Prof. Dr. Bernhard Rieger
Technische Universität München - Prof. Dr. Matthias Rögner
Ruhr-Universität Bochum - Prof. Dr. Rudolf K. Thauer ML
Max-Planck-Institut für Terrestrische Mikrobiologie - Prof. Dr. Roel van de Krol
Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin für Materialien und Energie GmbH - Prof. Dr. Eicke Weber
Fraunhofer-Institut für Solare Energiesysteme ISE
ML = Member of the Leopoldina
