Efficient solar water splitting requires robust catalytic interfaces capable of promoting multi-electron transfer while maintaining long-term stability. Bridging biologically derived catalysts with artificial semiconductor systems offers a promising pathway toward sustainable solar fuel production. [1, 2]
We first demonstrate that polyaniline-modified inverse-opal CeO2 electrodes provide a hierarchically ordered scaffold for integrating photosystem II (PSII), enabling electronically coupled bio–abiotic interfaces. The resulting heterojunction facilitates direct electron transfer, delivering photocurrent densities of ~6 μA cm⁻2 alongside sustained oxygen evolution under photoelectrochemical operation.[3]
Building on inverse-opal design principles, macroporous carbon nitride is employed to construct a semi-artificial Z-scheme “leaf” architecture with PSII, supporting scalable photoanodes up to 33 cm2. The hierarchical framework enhances light harvesting, interfacial wiring, and biocatalyst retention, enabling bias-free biophotovoltaic operation capable of powering microelectronic devices while maintaining high Faradaic oxygen yields.[4]
Extending beyond biohybrid systems, we further translate interface and charge-transfer concepts into fully artificial photocatalysts by engineering asymmetric single-atom Co sites on carbon nitride for photocatalytic seawater splitting. By tuning local coordination environments and carrier delocalization, these systems address key challenges including ion-induced deactivation, competing reactions, and device-level integration in saline conditions.[5]
These studies establish inverse-opal and hierarchical semiconductor architectures as a unifying materials strategy to bridge semi-artificial photosynthesis with emerging artificial systems. This interface-centered approach highlights a pathway toward scalable solar-to-fuel conversion technologies.