Storing energy within chemical bonds is one method of overcoming the intermittency of renewable energy technologies. Photoelectrochemical production of hydrogen or other fuels and chemical feedstock often require catalysts to lower over-potential and increase facile charge transfer from semiconductor to redox couples in solution. In practice, these catalysts are generally made from precious metals such as platinum and iridium, however nature has designed a plethora of biological enzymes that catalyze hydrogen evolution, carbon dioxide reduction, and nitrogen fixation. Here, we present several methods for incorporating enzymes into inorganic photoelectrode structures through surface functionalization, demonstrating the viability of biologically inspired catalysts using earth abundant elements. In particular, we show the nanoporous silicon photocathodes provide a scaffold for hydrogenase in vitro with catalytic turn-over number and frequency comparable to in vivo proton reduction.

Proton reduction using hydrogenase-modified silicon photoelectrodes

254th National Meeting (2017)

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