Researchers from Umea University have explored two different ways that allow unprecedented experimental insights into the reaction sequence leading to the formation of oxygen molecules in photosynthesis. The two studies have been published in the scientific journal Nature Communications.

"The new knowledge will help improving present day synthetic catalysts for water oxidation, which are key components for building artificial leaf devices for the direct storage of solar energy in fuels like hydrogen, ethanol or methanol," says Johannes Messinger, Professor in Biological Chemistry and leader of the Artificial photosynthesis research group at Umea University.

Every child learns at school that the oxygen we breathe is produced by photosynthesis in plants and by cyanobacteria that live in lakes and the oceans. However, exactly how that happens is still under intense research.