Richard Simmerman-Task 1 Team Member
Primary Research Advisor: Prof. Barry Bruce
Primary Research Task: Sun-Driven Electricity Production via Metal-Oxide Coupled Photosystem I.
Research
The end result for organisms utilizing photosynthesis is the conversion of solar energy into chemical energy stored as carbon-carbon bonds in sugars. This process is the source of the vast majority of matter that is converted to energy (including oil, coal, and natural gas) on our planet. With the growing power demand due to an increasing population, and draw-backs from traditional energy sources (e.g. pollution, global warming, peak oil, political instability) we are looking to photosynthetic organisms for alternative ways to harvest energy. We are seeking ways to eliminate the less efficient processes involved in the conversion of NADPH to biomass, and will attempt to harness the energy produced via light-driven charge separation directly from PSI. My project is to engineer PSI so that it can be efficiently used as the layer that separates electrons from holes in a photovoltaic device, and can produce current that will be passed through a semiconductor to do work, or be stored. PSI is an excellent material for this because it has evolved for billions of years to separate electrons from protons.
E-mail: Richard Simmerman
Additional information on each of the three research areas can be found in the links below.
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