Brenna Copeland

Biomimicry Research

Energy is important. It powers our world. Most of the energy sources today
are damaging the environment. Scientists are trying to find more efficient
renewable sources. This is hard because renewables are expensive and often
intermittent. Another major issue facing scientists today is finding an effective way
to store energy. Much energy goes to waste every day because it is not used.
Scientist are looking for a way to store this energy to save time, resources, and
money. Batteries can store energy, but only in small amounts. They cannot handle
the mass amounts of excess energy we waste. Energy producers must over produce
energy to ensure that there is a sufficient supply of energy. This results in much
energy being wasted. Biomimicry may be the solution scientists have long been
waiting and searching for. Biomimicry can solve human problems by stimulating
processes, systems, or elements naturally occurring in nature.
Photosynthesis is a successful process performed by plants in nature. The
reaction splits a neutral water molecule into oxygen and hydrogen. This is a very
complex biochemical process that would be difficult to reproduce. There is much
untangling to do with these multielectron photoreactions. The Nocera group,
demonstrated Proton-Coupled Electron Transfer using superfast lasers for
measurement. With this the group then went on to make photocatalysts to produce
hydrogen from diverse water sources. A company called Sun Catalytix has
furthered this study by developing commercial products that utilize the new-found
research.
Photosynthesis is the main source of energy for biological life. Scientists are
looking for ways to use biomimicry to recreate photosynthesis for our own use.
The Nocera group and Sun Catalytix have made major steps in the process of
developing artificial photosynthesis. They have created proton-coupled electron
transfer. They have mimicked the production of hydrogen with water. The
technology created has the potential to be a cheap renewable energy source and be
used to create energy storage.

Works Cited
https://asknature.org/idea/synthetic-solar-storage/#.WPzLKtw2anc
http://nocera.harvard.edu/Home
Brenna Copeland