Hongli Ma

College of Life Sciences, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou, 350025, Fujian, China
Author    Correspondence author
Journal of Energy Bioscience, 2024, Vol. 15, No. 4   doi: 10.5376/jeb.2024.15.0024
Received: 18 Jun., 2024    Accepted: 28 Jul., 2024    Published: 09 Aug., 2024

This is an open access article published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Ma H.L., 2024, Optimization of photosynthetic protein complex structures to improve light energy conversion efficiency, Journal of Energy Bioscience, 15(4): 255-266 (doi: 10.5376/jeb.2024.15.0024)

This study involves understanding and manipulating the spatial arrangement and interactions of protein subunits and cofactors to improve the overall performance of these complexes in artificial photosynthetic systems. Key discoveries include the identification of self-assembly strategies that integrate light harvesting with charge separation and transport, utilizing chemically robust dyes and biomimetic porphyrins. High-resolution structural analyses of photosystem complexes have revealed the variability and adaptability of light-harvesting systems in different organisms, which can inform the design of more efficient artificial systems. Additionally, the integration of photosynthetic protein complexes into solid-state devices has demonstrated significant improvements in internal quantum efficiencies, reaching up to 32%. The study also highlights the importance of lipid bilayers in maintaining the structural integrity and enhancing the energy transfer kinetics of light-harvesting complexes. The findings suggest that optimizing the structural organization and environmental conditions of photosynthetic protein complexes can significantly improve their light energy conversion efficiency. These insights provide a foundation for developing advanced artificial photosynthetic systems and bio-photovoltaic devices, potentially leading to more efficient solar energy utilization.

Photosynthetic protein complexes; Light energy conversion; Self-assembly; Charge separation; Artificial photosynthesis; Quantum efficiency; Lipid bilayers; Structural optimization