Fig. 1: Schematic illustration of programmable artificial photosynthetic cell.

The cell is designed on the biotic–abiotic energy modules of thylakoid–CdTe. Upon light illumination, the energy modules regenerate bioactive NADPH, NADH and ATP cofactors, which can be coupled with various cofactors-dependent CO2 reductases to drive CO2 conversion. The energy modules, multiple cofactors and reductases are encapsulated within cell-size microdroplets to form artificial photosynthetic cells, which can be energized by light to power enzymes for CO2 conversion.