Hydrogen is highly energy efficient and is considered to be the ultimate clean energy that does not emit greenhouse gases when used, and is expected to be a future fuel to replace fossil fuels such as petroleum and natural gas.
However, most of the hydrogen currently used is produced from fossil fuels, and there are problems that carbon dioxide is generated at the production stage and that a large amount of energy must be supplied from the outside.Therefore, attention is being paid to the method of producing hydrogen using natural energy such as sunlight.

　This time, the research group constructed a hydrogen production photocatalyst system by combining a protein crystal called lysoteam, which can be obtained from chicken eggs in large quantities at low cost, with a photosensitizer that absorbs light energy, and a catalyst that synthesizes hydrogen from the obtained energy. bottom.When the photocatalyst system was irradiated with visible light in water containing an electron source, it was confirmed that hydrogen was generated.

　A research group at Osaka City University had previously constructed a hydrogen production photocatalyst system using an inorganic material called silica-alumina, but the yield of hydrogen at this time was 76%, whereas the yield of organic substances was organic. In this catalytic system using the above-mentioned protein, we succeeded in improving the efficiency to 85%.

　Since proteins have multiple types of functional groups that can selectively interact with various compounds, molecules and particles with different functions can be arranged more precisely than inorganic substances.It is expected that if it becomes possible to rationally design a catalyst system according to the application as in this result, it will lead to the realization of a sustainable society.

Paper information:[Applied Catalysis B: Environmental] Photocatalytic hydrogen evolution systems constructed in cross-linked porous protein crystals