2D materials for solar fuels via artificial photosynthesis

To create a globally carbon neutral so-ciety,sustainable energy systems to re-place fossil fuels are needed urgently.Photosynthesis in nature converts CO2 and H2O into carbohydrates and O2 and is driven by solar energy via pho-tosystem Ⅱ(PSⅡ)and photosystem Ⅰ(PSⅠ)[1].Water oxidation occurring at the oxygen-evolution complex(OEC:CaMn4O5)of PSⅡ is the primary source of protons and electrons for the reduc-tion of CO2 by Ribulose-1,5-biphosphate carboxylate/oxygenase(RuBisCo).The protons and electrons produced in PSⅡare also utilized directly or indirectly in other enzyme catalysis reactions such as the H2 evolution reaction(HER)by hy-drogenases(H2ase),N2-fixing reaction by nitrogenase(N2ase)or O2 reduction reaction by cytochrome c oxidase(CCO)(Fig.1).Inspired by the function of pho-tosynthesis,chemical processes includ-ing water splitting,CO2 reduction and N2 fixation can be replicated via artificial photosynthesis(AP).