ABSTRACT
Undeniably, the photosynthetic apparatus found in photosynthetic organisms are superior bio-machineries that convert sunlight into useful energy. Most of the time, the structure and function of components in artificial photosynthetic devices are designed to emulate those in natural photosynthetic systems. On the other hand, protons are able to flow freely in the artificial photosynthetic cells while the electrons travel through the electrodes. Comparing dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) to a natural photosynthetic system, natural photosynthesis utilizes a number of pigments for a wider coverage in the solar spectrum to gather sunlight. The stability of TiO2 has advantages over the lipid membrane in a natural photosynthetic system because of its ability to support fast electron transfer. Surfactants have been found to improve the lifetime of a photosynthetic protein-based device for a few weeks; therefore, a solid-state, lipid surfactant-based device is a possible direction for the generation of photosynthetic biohybrid devices.
