A Robust PS II Mimic: Using Manganese/Tungsten Oxide Nanostructures for Photo Water Splitting

Abstract

Photosystem II is able to catalyze water-splitting reaction to achieve energy storage on the large scale at room temperature and neutral pH in green plants, algae, and cyanobacteria. The three-dimensional structure of photosystem II with oxygen-evolving activity has been determined at an atomic level, which provides a thorough image with the specific position of each atom in the Mn4CaO5 cluster. These advancements have significantly enhanced our understanding of the mechanisms of water splitting in photosynthesis and offered a unique opportunity for solar fuel production. Inspired by the natural photosynthesis, great progresses in using earth abundant elements based artificial catalytic systems have been made to achieve artificial catalysis in photo water splitting. In this chapter, I describe a robust PS II mimic containing manganese/tungsten oxide nanostructure to accomplish the photo water splitting chemistry. The synthesis, structural characterization, photo water splitting activity, and possible mechanism of the manganese/tungsten oxide system are presented and discussed. This PS II mimic shows a compelling working principle by combining the active catalysts in water splitting with semiconductor hetero-nanostructures for effective solar energy harnessing and is highly likely to offer novel technology for transforming the solar energy into our future energy systems.