Sustainable Carbon Dot-Based AIEgens: Promising Light-Harvesting Materials for Enhancing Photosynthesis

Using fluorescent materials to improve solar energy capture by chloroplasts has the potential to significantly enhance natural photosynthesis. Most currently available fluorescent materials, however, are derived from unsustainable petroleum resources and suffer from aggregation-caused quenching, both of which limit their practical application. Here, we used nanotechnology to engineer a hybrid photosynthesis system, comprising natural photosynthetic chloroplasts and aggregation-induced emission carbon dots (CD-AIEgens) made from natural quercetin. The CD-AIEgens possess unique optical properties, including AIE active fluorescence, efficient harvesting of ultraviolet light, and good photostability. Since the CD-AIEgens are able to harvest solar energy over a wider range of wavelengths than natural chloroplasts, by coating chloroplasts with CD-AIEgens, we were able to produce a new type of bio-based optical hybrid (chloroplasts/CD-AIEgens complexes) with increased photosynthetic efficiency. In addition to capturing a broader range of light, chloroplasts/CD-AIEgens complexes can accelerate electron transport rates in photosystem II, the critical protein complex in chloroplasts, and augment photosynthesis beyond that of natural chloroplasts. In this study, we developed an easily prepared nanoengineering strategy to enhance solar energy conversion by chloroplasts using light-harvesting-sustainable carbon dots.