Photocatalytic hydrogen generation using a protein-coated photosensitizer with anionic patches and a monocationic electron mediator

摘要

A reconstituted myoglobin with a synthetic cofactor having anionic binding sites effectively works as a photocatalyst for hydrogen generation in the presence of monomethylated bipyridinium. Hydrogen (H_2) generation mediated by a photosensitizer (photocatalyst) has been paid significant attention as a candidate for a clean energy source without the emission of CO_2. Especially, the production of H_2 in water is attractive because water acts as a "proton pool" (2H~+ + 2e~-→ H_2). Although naturally-occurring hydrogenases could be used for the H_2 production from water, artificially constructed systems, ideally, the splitting of water using light energy, should also be developed from the aspect of a tailor-made designed system.