Abstract
The need for alternative sources of energy has stimulated research into the storage of sunlight as chemical potential. Many systems have been investigated but photogeneration of H2 seems to be the most practical. The cyclic photodissociation of water has yet to be realized in homogeneous solution using visible light, although heterogeneous photosystems are known1–3. Efficient photogeneration of H2 in homogeneous conditions can be achieved4–7 at the expense of an added electron donor but such systems have little application in practical devices. Replacement of the sacrificial donor with waste material, for example sulphide8, offers a route for improving these systems and, here we describe efficient H2 photogeneration from a system using aqueous ethanol, as available from low-grade fermentation, as donor. To couple the photoproduction of H2 to the oxidation of ethanol we have used NADH/alcohol dehydrogenase as a relay.
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Handman, J., Harriman, A. & Porter, G. Photochemical dehydrogenation of ethanol in dilute aqueous solution. Nature 307, 534–535 (1984). https://doi.org/10.1038/307534a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/307534a0
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