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Plant Photosynthetic Process Key to New Photovoltaics

New research led by chemists in the Baruch ’60 Center for Biochemical Solar Energy Research at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute is seeking to detail the individual steps of highly efficient reactions that convert sunlight into chemical energy within plants and bacteria.

Scientists have provided important information on a specific portion of the photosynthetic process called photosystem II. It has been a major challenge to directly observe the individual steps of the solar water-splitting reaction that takes place in photosystem II, Lakshmi says. This finding provides new foundational research into how plants efficiently convert energy from the sun and could help inform the development of a new, highly robust and more efficient generation of solar-energy technologies.

Read more: http://www.laboratoryequipment.com/news-Water-Breakdown-in-Plants-May-be-Key-to-New-Photovoltaics-070512.aspx