How green is green chemistry? Chlorophylls as a bioresource from biorefineries and their commercial potential in medicine and photovoltaics

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Abstract

Chlorophylls are the natural green pigments par excellence and offer potential as therapeutics and in energy generation. This perspective outlines the state-of-the-art, their possible applications and indicates future directions in the context of green chemistry and their production from biorefineries.

Abstract

As the world strives to create a more sustainable environment, green chemistry has come to the fore in attempts to minimize the use of hazardous materials and shift the focus towards renewable sources. Chlorophylls, being the definitive “green” chemical are rarely used for such purposes and this article focuses on the exploitation of this natural resource, the current applications of chlorophylls and their derivatives whilst also providing a perspective on the commercial potential of large-scale isolation of these pigments from biomass for energy and medicinal applications.

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Simon Mathew, Aswani Yella, Peng Gao … (2014)

Dye-sensitized solar cells have gained widespread attention in recent years because of their low production costs, ease of fabrication and tunable optical properties, such as colour and transparency. Here, we report a molecularly engineered porphyrin dye, coded SM315, which features the prototypical structure of a donor-π-bridge-acceptor and both maximizes electrolyte compatibility and improves light-harvesting properties. Linear-response, time-dependent density functional theory was used to investigate the perturbations in the electronic structure that lead to improved light harvesting. Using SM315 with the cobalt(II/III) redox shuttle resulted in dye-sensitized solar cells that exhibit a high open-circuit voltage VOC of 0.91 V, short-circuit current density JSC of 18.1 mA cm(-2), fill factor of 0.78 and a power conversion efficiency of 13%.

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Pyung Ok Lim, Hyo Jung Kim, Hong Nam (2007)

Leaf senescence constitutes the final stage of leaf development and is critical for plants' fitness as nutrient relocation from leaves to reproducing seeds is achieved through this process. Leaf senescence involves a coordinated action at the cellular, tissue, organ, and organism levels under the control of a highly regulated genetic program. Major breakthroughs in the molecular understanding of leaf senescence were achieved through characterization of various senescence mutants and senescence-associated genes, which revealed the nature of regulatory factors and a highly complex molecular regulatory network underlying leaf senescence. The genetically identified regulatory factors include transcription regulators, receptors and signaling components for hormones and stress responses, and regulators of metabolism. Key issues still need to be elucidated, including cellular-level analysis of senescence-associated cell death, the mechanism of coordination among cellular-, organ-, and organism-level senescence, the integration mechanism of various senescence-affecting signals, and the nature and control of leaf age.

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Author and article information

Journal

Journal ID (publisher-id): PPSHCB

Title: Photochemical & Photobiological Sciences

Abbreviated Title: Photochem. Photobiol. Sci.

Publisher: Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC)

ISSN (Print): 1474-905X

ISSN (Electronic): 1474-9092

Publication date Created: 2015

Publication date (Print): 2015

Volume: 14

Issue: 4

Pages: 638-660

Article

DOI: 10.1039/C4PP00435C

SO-VID: 1ed4d17e-a404-440c-a35f-17e2bdb00586

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