Thermodynamic Efficiency in Dissipative Chemical/Supramolecular Processes

Out-of-equilibrium chemistry is not anymore a prerogative of nature. In recent years, fuel-driven self-assembly became a paradigmatic example of how chemists were able to access the realm of nonequilibrium processes. In the meantime, theoretical physicists achieved a deep understanding of these phenomena, which resulted in rigorous formulations of nonequilibrium thermodynamics for chemical systems. In this work, we crossbreed experimental and theoretical cutting edge research by building a quantitative thermodynamic description for two classes of chemical dissipative processes: energy storage and dissipative synthesis, which boast experimental examples in supramolecular chemistry. The former consists in storing chemical energy in the form of high-energy molecules, whereas the latter in synthesizing molecules by consuming fuel species. As nascent thermodynamics did for heat engines, we treat these systems as chemical engines and develop a quantitative framework for evaluating their efficiency. In doing so, we set the foundation for performance analysis of generic dissipative chemical processes.