NATURE-LIKE PHOTOSYNTHESIS OF WATER AND CARBON DIOXIDE WITH FEMTOSECOND LASER INDUCED SELF-ASSEMBLED METAL NANOSTRUCTURES

Abstract

Large-scale replication of the natural process of photosynthesis is a crucial subject of storing solar energy and saving our environment. Here, we report femtosecond laser induced self-assembled metal nanostructure arrays, which are easily mass producible on earth-abundant metals, can directly synthesize liquid and solid hydrocarbon compounds from carbon dioxide, water, and sunlight at a production rate of more than 1 × 105 μ L/(gh) that is significantly (103–106 times) higher than those in previous studies.1,2 The efficiency for storing solar energy of the photosynthesis is about 10% in the present simple experimental setup which can be further improved. Moreover, different from previous artificial photosynthesis works, this phenomenon presents a new mechanism that, through a surface-enhanced photodissociation process, nature-like photosynthesis can be performed artificially.