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Bioinspired catalytic materials for energy-relevant conversions

Nature Energy volume 2, Article number: 17131 (2017) Cite this article

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The structure of active sites of enzymes involved in bioenergetic processes can inspire design of active, stable and cost-effective catalysts for renewable-energy technologies. For these materials to reach maturity, the benefits of bioinspired systems must be combined with practical technological requirements.

Transitioning towards a post-oil society (the so-called ecological transition) requires breakthroughs in finding new catalytic materials that are efficient and stable. They should also be cheap and therefore based on abundant elements. This is particularly true for the storage of electrical or solar power in fuels or chemicals, as well as in reverse for the conversion of chemical energy into electrical power in fuel cells1. Such alternative energy processes all involve multi-electron, multi-proton reactions (Table 1) that are inherently kinetically sluggish and require catalysts for them to proceed at high rates and with low driving force. For example, proton-exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cells and electrolyzers exclusively use platinum and/or iridium oxide catalysts for H+/H2 and O2/H2O interconversion (Table 1), yet a global economy based on such technologies cannot be sustained by the worldwide mining of noble metals2. Although alkaline electrolysis is a mature technology that does not require noble-metal catalysts, it faces challenges related to the intermittency of renewable electricity generation. Current technologies for CO2 valorization (such as reverse water–gas shift and the Fischer–Tropsch process) and N2 fixation rely on the reaction of these substrates with hydrogen, as their direct electrocatalytic conversion requires catalytic properties that are still out of reach, including selectivity and low-temperature and low-pressure operation.

Table 1 Bioenergetic processes relevant to technological applications.
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Figure 1: Structures of metallo-porphyrin-based ORR catalysts.
Figure 2: Design of efficient bioinspired nanomaterials mimicking the active site of hydrogenases.
Figure 3

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratoire de Chimie et Biologie des Métaux & Labex Arcane (ANR-11-LABX-0003-01), Université Grenoble Alpes, CNRS, CEA, 17 rue des Martyrs, Grenoble, 38054 Cedex 9, France

    Vincent Artero

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Artero, V. Bioinspired catalytic materials for energy-relevant conversions. Nat Energy 2, 17131 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1038/nenergy.2017.131

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