Light-harvesting biohybrids for enhanced solar-to-chemical conversion technologies

Chem ◽  
2022 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lisa M. Utschig
Author(s):  
Dongyan Mu ◽  
Fu Zhao ◽  
Thomas P. Seager ◽  
P. Suresh C. Rao

The recent boom and collapse of the corn ethanol industry calls into question on the long-term sustainability of biofuels and traditional approaches to biofuel systems design. Compared with petroleum based transportation fuel production, biofuel production systems are so closely connected and heavily influenced by natural systems that they have to deal with high degrees of complexity, variability and unpredictability. Accordingly, a fundamental change in design philosophy is necessary for long-term viability of biofuel production. The new approach requires the system to be designed not for a narrowly defined efficiency (both economic and ecological), but for resilience (indicated by characteristics such as diversity, efficiency, cohesion and adaptability) to absorb unexpected disruptions and changes. Also, biofuel systems must be endowed with transformability to allow for “creative destruction” when current transportation fuels are eventually supplanted by new vehicle technologies and/or mode of transportation. This paper addresses important concepts in the design of coupled engineering-ecological systems (i.e. resilience, adaptability and transformability) that determine future system trajectories at multiple scales. In addition, several emerging biofuel conversion technologies are examined from a resilience perspective. It is suggested that the thermo-chemical conversion technologies may be preferable for biofuel production from resilience aspect. However, multiple technologies may increase the diversity and flexibility of the entire industry. This paper calls for the development of quantitative metrics for resilience assessment (similar to life cycle assessment for environmental sustainability) of industrial system, which are critical for integrating resilience into technology development and system design.


2013 ◽  
Vol 860-863 ◽  
pp. 472-478 ◽  
Author(s):  
Si Fang Kong ◽  
Hui Liu ◽  
Fu Shuan Ma ◽  
Hui Zeng

Thermo-chemical conversion to prepare biomass liquid fuel is one of the most promising biomass utilization technologies for biomass energy. Direct liquefaction and indirect liquefaction, two main thermo-chemical conversion technologies for liquid fuel from biomass were introduced in detail. Moreover, the latest research status of five kinds of liquid-fuel products from biomass by thermo-chemical conversion technology, such as methanol, ethanol, dimethyl ether, biodiesel and biomass pyrolytic oil were especially discussed. In addition, the problems existing in the thermo-chemical conversion technology and products are discussed and the developing trend and some proposals on thermo-chemical utilization of biomass energy in future are p resented.


Author(s):  
Xavier Montané ◽  
Roxana Dinu ◽  
Alice Mija

The combination of eco-respectful epoxy compounds with the humins, a by-product of biomass chemical conversion technologies, allow the obtention of materials with high added value. In this work, we propose the chemical connection study of humins with two aliphatic diepoxides through the copolymerization reactions to synthesize sustainable bio-based thermosets. The mechanism insights for the crosslinking between the epoxides and humins was proposed considering the different functionalities of the humins structure. FT-IR spectroscopy, 1 D and 2 D NMR spectroscopy techniques were used to build the proposed mechanism. By these techniques, the principal chain connections and the reactivity of all the components were highlighted in the synthesized networks.


Molecules ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 24 (22) ◽  
pp. 4110 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xavier Montané ◽  
Roxana Dinu ◽  
Alice Mija

The combination of eco-respectful epoxy compounds with the humins, a by-product of biomass chemical conversion technologies, allow the obtention of materials with high added value. In this work, we propose a chemical connection study of humins with two aliphatic bis-epoxides through copolymerization reactions to synthesize sustainable, bio-based thermosets. The mechanism insights for the crosslinking between the epoxides and humins was proposed considering the different functionalities of the humins structure. Fourier Transform InfraRed (FT-IR), one dimensional (1D) and two-dimensional (2D) Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectroscopy techniques were used to build the proposed mechanism. By these techniques, the principal chain connections and the reactivity of all the components were highlighted in the synthesized networks.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (7) ◽  
pp. 3877
Author(s):  
Jun Sheng Teh ◽  
Yew Heng Teoh ◽  
Heoy Geok How ◽  
Thanh Danh Le ◽  
Yeoh Jun Jie Jason ◽  
...  

It has been widely accepted worldwide, that the greenhouse effect is by far the most challenging threat in the new century. Renewable energy has been adopted to prevent excessive greenhouse effects, and to enhance sustainable development. Malaysia has a large amount of biomass residue, which provides the country with the much needed support the foreseeable future. This investigation aims to analyze potentials biomass gases from major biomass residues in Malaysia. The potential biomass gasses can be obtained using biomass conversion technologies, including biological and thermo-chemical technologies. The thermo-chemical conversion technology includes four major biomass conversion technologies such as gasification, combustion, pyrolysis, and liquefaction. Biomass wastes can be attained through solid biomass technologies to obtain syngas which includes carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, oxygen, hydrogen, and nitrogen. The formation of tar occurs during the main of biomass conversion reaction such as gasification and pyrolysis. The formation of tar hinders equipment or infrastructure from catalytic aspects, which will be applied to prevent the formation of tar. The emission, combustion, and produced gas reactions were investigated. It will help to contribute the potential challenges and strategies, due to sustainable biomass, to harness resources management systems in Malaysia to reduce the problem of biomass residues and waste.


Author(s):  
Werner Kühlbrandt ◽  
Da Neng Wang ◽  
K.H. Downing

The light-harvesting chlorophyll-a/b protein complex (LHC-II) is the most abundant membrane protein in the chloroplasts of green plants where it functions as a molecular antenna of solar energy for photosynthesis. We have grown two-dimensional (2d) crystals of the purified, detergent-solubilized LHC-II . The crystals which measured 5 to 10 μm in diameter were stabilized for electron microscopy by washing with a 0.5% solution of tannin. Electron diffraction patterns of untilted 2d crystals cooled to 130 K showed sharp spots to 3.1 Å resolution. Spot-scan images of 2d crystals were recorded at 160 K with the Berkeley microscope . Images of untilted crystals were processed, using the unbending procedure by Henderson et al . A projection map of the complex at 3.7Å resolution was generated from electron diffraction amplitudes and high-resolution phases obtained by image processing .A difference Fourier analysis with the same image phases and electron diffraction amplitudes recorded of frozen, hydrated specimens showed no significant differences in the 3.7Å projection map. Our tannin treatment therefore does not affect the structural integrity of the complex.


2019 ◽  
Vol 476 (20) ◽  
pp. 2981-3018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Petar H. Lambrev ◽  
Parveen Akhtar

Abstract The light reactions of photosynthesis are hosted and regulated by the chloroplast thylakoid membrane (TM) — the central structural component of the photosynthetic apparatus of plants and algae. The two-dimensional and three-dimensional arrangement of the lipid–protein assemblies, aka macroorganisation, and its dynamic responses to the fluctuating physiological environment, aka flexibility, are the subject of this review. An emphasis is given on the information obtainable by spectroscopic approaches, especially circular dichroism (CD). We briefly summarise the current knowledge of the composition and three-dimensional architecture of the granal TMs in plants and the supramolecular organisation of Photosystem II and light-harvesting complex II therein. We next acquaint the non-specialist reader with the fundamentals of CD spectroscopy, recent advances such as anisotropic CD, and applications for studying the structure and macroorganisation of photosynthetic complexes and membranes. Special attention is given to the structural and functional flexibility of light-harvesting complex II in vitro as revealed by CD and fluorescence spectroscopy. We give an account of the dynamic changes in membrane macroorganisation associated with the light-adaptation of the photosynthetic apparatus and the regulation of the excitation energy flow by state transitions and non-photochemical quenching.


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