Absorption spectrometer for photophysical Studies of light harvesting in photosynthetic organisms and conjugated polymers

我们的研究小组最近获得了NSERC的发现资助“生物学和化学中的量子效应”，该项目专注于研究海藻中的量子相干性，旨在阐明太阳能被捕获并通过这些光合生物中的捕光机制传输的量子力学机制。我们小组报告的关于自然界中光捕获的量子力学方面的令人信服的证据已经在《新科学家》、《连线》、《宇宙》、《发现》杂志、《科学家》、《科学》、《科学美国人》、《科学新闻》杂志、CBCnews.ca等以及CBC广播节目《怪癖和夸克》（“量子池塘浮渣”）中进行了专题报道，强调了这个迅速发展的领域的重要性和兴趣。我们提出了进一步的实验，可以阐明光捕获机制的演变，通过研究大量的相关物种的海藻，表现出显着的多样性，他们优化和调节他们的光合作用的方式，在光照条件下，他们的生态系统的特点。除了对光合作用的好奇心驱动的研究之外，了解量子相干光捕获在生物系统中的好处以及发现光合装置的结构和功能组织，为在能源生产系统的开发和调整中模仿自然调谐过程提供了机会。

Our research group has recently received an NSERC discovery grant "Quantum effects in biology and chemistry", which focuses on the study of quantum coherence in marine algae and aims at elucidating the quantum mechanical mechanisms with which solar energy is captured and transmitted through the light-harvesting machinery in these photosynthetic organisms. Compelling evidence on the quantum-mechanical aspect of light-harvesting in nature reported by our group has been featured in New Scientist, Wired, Cosmos, Discover magazine, The Scientist, Science, Scientific American, Science News magazine, CBCnews.ca, etc. as well as the CBC radio show Quirks and Quarks ("Quantum Pond Scum") emphasizing the importance and the interest in this rapidly expanding field. We propose further experiments that could shed light on the evolution of light-harvesting mechanisms by studying a large number of related species of marine algae which exhibit a remarkable diversity in the ways they optimize and regulate their photosynthetic activity in lighting conditions characteristic of their ecosystem. Alongside the curiosity-driven research of photosynthesis, understanding the benefits of quantum-coherent light-harvesting in biological systems in addition to the discovery of structural and functional organization of the photosynthetic apparatus affords the opportunity for mimicry of nature tuned processes in the development and adjustment of energy producing systems.