Bioinspired hollow semiconductor nanospheres as photosynthetic nanoparticles

Natural photosynthesis occurs in the thylakoid membrane where functional proteins and electron carriers are precisely arranged to efficiently convert sunlight into a chemical potential between the two membrane sides, via charge separation and electron transport chains, for use in oxygen generation and CO2 fixation. These light-harvesting complexes and cofactors have been actively mimicked using dyes, semiconductors and catalytic nanoparticles. However, the photosynthetic scaffold that optimizes both the capture and distribution of light and separates both the oxidative and reductive species has been mimicked much less often, especially using polymer substances. Here we report the synthesis of hollow nanospheres sized in the optical range and made of a robust semiconductor, melon or carbon-nitride polymer. These hollow nanospheres are shown to function as both light-harvesting antennae and nanostructured scaffolds that improve photoredox catalysis, which was determined to have a 7.5% apparent quantum yield via a hydrogen-generation assay.