Fuel transport convoys present large safety risks to soldiers in the field; however these risks could be significantly decreased if energy was generated on demand.  Although there are countless studies on the conversion of solar energy to utile fuels, these methods remain inefficient.  However, nature has perfected the conversion of light energy to chemical energy via photosynthesis through a specific network of proteins.  Photosystem I (PSI), a reaction-center protein, is a key component of the photosynthetic pathway.  Upon excitation from light, PSI undergoes complex unidirectional electron transfers across multiple redox centers in the protein.  Our approach harnesses PSI's light-induced charge separation in order to engineer a photocatalytic biohybrid system of PSI and inorganic materials.  This presentation highlights the use of PSI as a biomolecular reactor for solar energy conversion.  We show the controllable surface assembly of PSI onto various modified electrode surfaces, and demonstrate photocurrent generation in the biohybrid system.

Surface-assembled Photosystem I as a biomolecular reactor toward solar energy conversion

244th National Meeting (2012)

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.