A reactor shaped like a cell
Scientists have built a tiny nanoreactor that mimics the structure of living cells to make hydrogen peroxide using only sunlight and water. The hollow reactor has a cadmium sulfide core coated in polydopamine. It combines a light-trapping cavity with a proton-relay shell that work together to drive the chemical reaction.
The team, from the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, published the results in the Journal of the American Chemical Society. The reactor achieved a hydrogen peroxide photosynthesis rate of 3.24 millimoles per gram of catalyst per hour.
Why hydrogen peroxide matters
Hydrogen peroxide is one of the most widely used industrial chemicals. It appears in bleaching, disinfection, water treatment and electronics manufacturing. Conventional production relies on energy-intensive processes tied to fossil fuels, and the chemical is often transported in concentrated form, which carries risks.
Making hydrogen peroxide on site from sunlight and water would remove much of that cost and danger. Because the new system runs on visible light and water, it avoids harsh reagents and high-energy inputs.
From lab to practical use
The researchers embedded the nanoreactor in a recyclable hydrogel. They say the gel-based system kept producing hydrogen peroxide steadily under natural outdoor sunlight, which moves the technology beyond a laboratory curiosity.
The approach is a step toward artificial photosynthesis, where engineered materials capture sunlight the way leaves do. If scaled up, sunlight-driven reactors could produce hydrogen peroxide locally and on demand, reducing reliance on fossil fuels and hazardous transport. The team says the same design principles could be applied to other chemical reactions, opening new paths for cleaner manufacturing.