Inspired by the structure of chlorophyll assembled on the thylakoid membrane through its long hydrophobic chain, we designed cationic aggregation-induced emission (AIE) amphiphiles with two long hydrophobic chains to assemble with the electronegative cytomembrane of algae for efficiently converting natural ultraviolet light into usable blue light to promote photosynthesis. The photosynthesis efficiency of algae depended on the carbon chain length of the AIE amphiphile due to the difference in assembly capacity with the algal membrane. The AIE amphiphile with two hydrophobic chains of 12 carbon atoms effectively intercalated into the cytomembrane of algae, serving as an artificial membrane-embedded antenna to significantly improve light utilization by algae. This resulted in increased electron generation and a 98.6% increase in the electron transfer rate. Consequently, oxygen and ATP production in light-dependent reactions were boosted by about 100% and 64.5%, respectively, and the lipid yield increased by 45.7% in dark reactions. In addition, the AIE amphiphile also demonstrated a low biotoxicity. These results highlight the potential of AIE amphiphiles as membrane-embedded artificial antennas for optimizing natural photosynthesis.

中文翻译：

---

一种受自然启发的人工聚集诱导发射天线，用于与藻类组装以促进光合作用


受叶绿素通过其长疏水链组装在类囊体膜上的结构的启发，我们设计了具有两条长疏水链的阳离子聚集诱导发射 （AIE） 两亲物，与藻类的负电细胞膜组装，以有效地将自然紫外线转化为可用的蓝光，以促进光合作用。藻类的光合作用效率取决于 AIE 两亲物的碳链长度，因为与藻膜的组装能力不同。具有两条 12 个碳原子的疏水链的 AIE 两亲物有效地嵌入藻类的细胞膜中，作为人工膜嵌入天线，显着提高藻类的光利用率。这导致电子生成增加，电子转移速率增加 98.6%。因此，光依赖性反应中的氧和 ATP 产生分别提高了约 100% 和 64.5%，暗反应中的脂质产率增加了 45.7%。此外，AIE 两亲物也表现出低生物毒性。这些结果突出了 AIE 两亲物作为膜嵌入人工天线优化自然光合作用的潜力。