PF009(0484)

Speculation: Delayed light emission from photosynthetic materials and chemiluminescence (CIEEL) indicate the potential of extracting energy from isothermal systems

Hidehiro Sakurai^1,2; ¹Res. Inst. Photobiol. H₂ Production, Kanagawa Univ., ²Res. Inst. Sci. Engineer., Waseda Univ.

In a thought experiment, J. C. Maxwell created a demon who is able to extract energy from an isothermal system for work, which seems to violate the second law of thermodynamics. Later, Szilard argued that the demon does not violate the second law, on the ground of the information entropy. However, the following observations indicate that it may be possible to extract energy from an isothermal system without the participation of the demon: 1) Delayed light emission in the subsequent dark from pre-illuminated photosynthetic materials (Strehler et al. (1951), J Gen Physiol 34: 809). After illumination, some transiently reduced component (A^-) is produced on the acceptor side and some oxidized component (D⁺) on the donor side. Some of A^- combine with D⁺ with light emission (the light route) and the others generate heat without light emission (the dark route). 2) Chemically initiated electron exchange luminescence (CIEEL) by dioxetanes (ONeil al. (1970), JACS 92:6553). In some of the above cases, the light energy of the light routes exceeds the heat generated by the dark routes. The extra energy for light emission should come from the thermal energy of the surrounding medium.

Explanation: Maxwell's Demon