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Catching the Light
01 February 2017

Catching the Light

At the base of the food chain, plants perform an everyday miracle: in the process of photosynthesis, they convert the sun’s energy into sugar, making it available to other life forms. A team of researchers has recently developed devices that use the sun’s rays to fuel chemical reactions, much as plants do. Shaped like the leaves that inspired them, these minute chemical reactors (pictured) are constructed from materials known as luminescent solar concentrators (LSCs), which absorb sunlight before re-emitting it at a specific wavelength, effectively concentrating its energy. Microchannels, visible as the veins of these artificial leaves, bring molecules into close contact with the LSCs, so the focussed solar energy they produce can power chemical reactions. Applied to processes used for drug synthesis, this versatile technique could enable medicines to be produced anywhere with daylight, efficiently, more cheaply and in an environmentally-friendly way, potentially revolutionising the pharmaceutical industry.

Written by Emmanuelle Briolat

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BPoD stands for Biomedical Picture of the Day. Managed by the MRC Laboratory of Medical Sciences until Jul 2023, it is now run independently by a dedicated team of scientists and writers. The website aims to engage everyone, young and old, in the wonders of biology, and its influence on medicine. The ever-growing archive of more than 4000 research images documents over a decade of progress. Explore the collection and see what you discover. Images are kindly provided for inclusion on this website through the generosity of scientists across the globe.

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BPoD is also available in Catalan at www.bpod.cat with translations by the University of Valencia.