Enhanced Biological Photosynthetic Efficiency Using Light-Harvesting Engineering with Dual-Emissive Carbon Dots

Enhancing solar energy conversion is imperative and maximizing solar energy capture remains significant. Here, nanotechnology toward engineering hybrid photosystem involving biological photosynthetic chloroplasts and dual-emissive carbon dots (CDs) is employed for improved photosynthesis by harnessing more effective light. Specifically, the as-prepared CDs show strong absorption in ultraviolet (UV) light region and exhibit intense blue and red light in water, which exactly match the absorption spectrum of chloroplasts. After coating the CDs on the surface of extracted chloroplasts, the hybrid photosystem produces 2.8 times more adenosine triphosphate (ATP) than chloroplasts themselves in vitro. Moreover, CD-induced enhancement of photosynthesis in living plant is proved as well, showing a maximum increase of 25% in electron transport rates over the leaves without CDs, demonstrating the effective nanobionics engineering of plant performance in vivo. This is the first report on employing the unique dual-emission trait of nanoparticles, especially the red emission, to augment photoabsorption of both extracted chloroplasts and intact leaves for enhanced photosynthetic properties. This work provides a promising strategy for engineering biological photosynthetic system with dual-emissive CDs to enhance solar energy conversion both in vivo and in vitro, and promotes the development in the field of nanobionic.