2A-3
Development of novel electrode catalysts for PSII fuel cells using plant-derived proton sources I: Investigation of dye-addition effects, R. Ueda (Setsunan Univ.) et al.

Hydrogen energy has attracted attention as a next-generation clean energy technology; however, most hydrogen currently used is derived from fossil fuels, resulting in CO₂ emissions during its production. In this study, we focused on a solid photosynthetic fuel cell using photosystem II (PSII), a biomolecular complex that induces water-splitting reactions under light irradiation. A β-carotene-containing solid photosynthetic fuel cell was fabricated by combining PSII extracted from spinach leaves with chitin as a bio-derived solid electrolyte. The β-carotene-containing solid photosynthetic fuel cell exhibited an enhancement in power density compared with the fuel cell without β-carotene, suggesting that light absorption by β-carotene may contribute to power generation.