Photosynthetic semiconductor biohybrids integrate the best attributes of biological whole-cell catalysts and semiconducting nanomaterials. Enzymatic machinery enveloped in its native cellular environment offers exquisite product selectivity and low substrate activation barriers while semiconducting nanomaterials harvest light energy stably and efficiently. In this Review Article, we illustrate the evolution and advances of photosynthetic semiconductor biohybrids focusing on the conversion of CO₂ to value-added chemicals. We begin by considering the potential of this nascent field to meet global energy challenges while comparing it to alternate approaches. This is followed by a discussion of the advantageous coupling of electrotrophic organisms with light-active electrodes for solar-to-chemical conversion. We detail the dynamic investigation of photosensitized microorganisms creating direct light harvesting within unicellular organisms while describing complementary developments in the understanding of charge transfer mechanisms and cytoprotection. Lastly, we focus on trends and improvements needed in photosynthetic semiconductor biohybrids in order to address future challenges and enhance their widespread adoption for the production of solar chemicals.

光合作用的半导体生物杂化物融合了生物全细胞催化剂和半导体纳米材料的最佳特性。包裹在其原生细胞环境中的酶促机械装置提供了出色的产品选择性和较低的底物活化障碍，同时半导体纳米材料稳定而有效地收集了光能。在这篇综述文章中，我们以CO ₂的转化为重点，阐述了光合半导体生物杂化物的演变和进展。增值化学品。我们首先将这个新兴领域的潜力与其他方法进行比较，以应对全球能源挑战。接下来是对营养生物与光活性电极的有利耦合的讨论，以进行太阳到化学的转化。我们详细描述了光敏微生物在单细胞生物内创建直接光收集的动态研究，同时描述了电荷转移机制和细胞保护的理解的互补发展。最后，我们专注于光合半导体生物混合动力的趋势和改进，以应对未来的挑战并增强其在太阳能化学品生产中的广泛采用。