Summary
A study from the Technical University of Munich (TUM) highlights the role of quantum mechanics in photosynthesis, a process where plants convert sunlight, water, and carbon dioxide into oxygen and sugar.
Photosynthesis is how plants make oxygen and sugar using sunlight, water, and carbon dioxide. This process is almost loss-free and very fast.
A new study at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) shows that quantum mechanics is important in biology. A team led by Erika Keil and Prof. Jürgen Hauer discovered this through measurements and simulations.
Photosynthetic organisms like green plants use quantum mechanics to capture sunlight. When light hits a leaf, the energy spreads across several states of each chlorophyll molecule, called a superposition of excited states.
This nearly loss-free energy transfer is the first step in efficiently moving solar energy within and between molecules. Quantum mechanics is key to understanding this energy transfer and charge separation.
This process, which classical physics can’t fully explain, happens constantly in green plants and photosynthetic bacteria. However, the exact mechanisms are still not fully understood.
Hauer and Keil see their study as a new foundation for understanding how chlorophyll, the green pigment in leaves, works. Applying these findings to artificial photosynthesis could help use solar energy more efficiently for electricity generation or photochemistry.
The researchers studied two parts of the light spectrum that chlorophyll absorbs: the low-energy Q region (yellow to red) and the high-energy B region (blue to green). The Q region has two different electronic states that are quantum mechanically coupled, leading to loss-free energy transport in the molecule.
The system then releases energy as heat, known as “cooling.” The study shows that quantum mechanics plays a significant role in important biological processes.
Journal Reference:
- Erika Keil, Ajeet Kumar, Lena Bäuml, Sebastian Reiter, Erling Thyrhaug, Simone Moser, Christopher D. P. Duffy, Regina de Vivie-Riedle and Jürgen Hauer: “Reassessing the role and lifetime of Qx in the energy transfer dynamics of chlorophyll a” published in: Chemical Science 27.11.2024, DOI: 10.1039/D4SC06441K
Source: Tech Explorist
