The Combination of Hydrogen and Methanol Production through Artificial Photosynthesis-Are We Ready Yet?

Because 100 % quantum efficiency for the photosynthetic production of H from H O under visible illumination has been achieved recently, the oxidation of H O to O remains the bottleneck to the overall water-splitting reaction. Oxidation of CH to CH OH might be combined with water reduction instead, so that H and CH OH chemical fuels can be simultaneously produced through a one-step process under solar illumination. This combination would be a promising approach towards a more sustainable future of chemistry, in which developing different strategies for artificial photosynthesis is of paramount importance. By using free and adsorbed HO radicals on the semiconductor surface, CH can be activated to H C radicals and converted into CH OH, respectively, with great selectivity up to 100 %. The present lack of efficient photosynthetic systems for the formation of H and CH OH from abundant H O and CH motivates future research for basic science and industrial applications.