Volume 155, 2012

Design principles of photosynthetic light-harvesting

Abstract

Photosynthetic organisms are capable of harvesting solar energy with near unity quantum efficiency. Even more impressively, this efficiency can be regulated in response to the demands of photosynthetic reactions and the fluctuating light-levels of natural environments. We discuss the distinctive design principles through which photosynthetic light-harvesting functions. These emergent properties of photosynthesis appear both within individual pigment–protein complexes and in how these complexes integrate to produce a functional, regulated apparatus that drives downstream photochemistry. One important property is how the strong interactions and resultant quantum coherence, produced by the dense packing of photosynthetic pigments, provide a tool to optimize for ultrafast, directed energy transfer. We also describe how excess energy is quenched to prevent photodamage under high-light conditions, which we investigate through theory and experiment. We conclude with comments on the potential of using these features to improve solar energy devices.

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
22 Apr 2011
Accepted
15 Jun 2011
First published
06 Jul 2011

Faraday Discuss., 2012,155, 27-41

Design principles of photosynthetic light-harvesting

G. R. Fleming, G. S. Schlau-Cohen, K. Amarnath and J. Zaks, Faraday Discuss., 2012, 155, 27 DOI: 10.1039/C1FD00078K

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