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Photosystem-II

Identifying each tiny chemical step in photosynthesis could aid the development of renewable energy technology.

A new technique allows scientists to map how electrons flow in the oxygen-evolving complex of Photosystem II. The ultimate goal is to assemble an atomic movie of the entire process, including the elusive transient state that bonds oxygen atoms from two water molecules to form oxygen molecules. 

 

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Greg Stewart/SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory

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Presented by Franklin Fuller. Over billions of years, plants and cyanobacteria changed the Earth’s atmosphere by inhaling carbon dioxide, storing the carbon in solid biomass and exhaling oxygen.

Public Lecture poster: picture of movie

Understanding nature’s process could inform the next generation of artificial photosynthetic systems that produce clean and renewable energy from sunlight and water.

How electrons flow in the oxygen-evolving complex of Photosystem II.
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