Biomimetic chloroplasts: Two‐phase microfluidic platforms with selective permeability for artificial photosynthesis

Abstract The development of biomimetic chloroplasts offers significant potential in addressing global energy and environmental challenges. Traditional droplet‐based models are limited by transmembrane transport inefficiencies, leading to the accumulation of aqueous products that severely hinder reaction performance. In this work, we present a biomimetic chloroplast system that integrates light‐dependent and light‐independent reactions, reaction compartments, and selectively permeable interfaces, fabricated using a biphasic microfluidic platform. The permeable interface facilitates continuous substrate–product exchange, mitigating product inhibition and side reactions, thus enhancing reaction efficiency. Furthermore, a quartz spiral tube was engineered to amplify Dean vortex effects, improving mass transfer. This system exhibited a nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide regeneration efficiency during light‐dependent reactions that was 5.52 times higher than that of conventional slurry reactors. In the light‐independent reaction, the energy conversion efficiency for the transformation of α‐ketoglutaric acid to L‐glutamic acid reached 1.45 times that of natural photosynthesis. As the first comprehensive integration of photosynthetic processes within artificial chloroplasts, this work combines biological mechanisms with engineered components to establish a transformative platform for efficient energy conversion and directional biosynthesis. This breakthrough advances the field of photocatalysis and bioinspired technologies, with wide‐reaching implications for sustainable energy and synthetic biology applications.