Using a catalyst, MIT chemist Dan Nocera created a process in which he split water into oxygen and hydrogen fuel enough to power a home using only sunlight and a bottle of water. According to Popular Science magazine, this project is an example of the power of artificial photosynthesis, a man-made attempt to recreate photosynthesis.
According to Pub Med and a Royal Society study, as of 2007, scientists have made huge progress in understanding electron and energy transfers and in stabilizing charge separation. In the Swedish Consortium for Artificial Photosynthesis, Swedish scientists found that they can split electrons with a three-step electron transfer. The science project involved investigating water splitting and proton reduction. The scientists found that the process required a proton release and/or uptake.
Just like in the movie, "Knight and Day" (2010), there really is a search going on for an organic battery that can last a week, a month or longer. Researchers at the University of Texas at Austin, for example, are trying to create an electron transfer process that can proceed in the opposite direction, with a forward and backward switching of electron flow. This flow of energy opens up possibilities for longer battery power. According to a University of Texas press release, chemist Christopher Bielawski and his colleague Jonathan Sessler note that their whole enterprise is based around artificial photosynthesis.
Scientists are trying to make a clean fuel alternative by creating artificial versions of photosynthesis. According to Matt Ransford's 2008 article in Popular Science magazine, scientists think they can create artificial photosynthesis by mimicking what plants do (i.e., converting sunlight, or solar energy, into chemical energy). Researchers want to recreate the plants' natural process to create a hydrogen fuel.
While researchers are working on the project, the additional element necessary to create photosynthesis is a stable catalyst, i.e., a substance that increases the rate of a chemical reaction without itself suffering any chemical damage or change. Creating a stable catalyst is a major part of the project, and while a team of German and American scientists have succeeded in making one, there is a still a lot of work to do to perfect the artificial photosynthesis process.