Here we demonstrate an Fmoc (9-Fluorenylmethyloxycarbonyl) protected di-peptide-mediated porphyrin self-assembly in aqueous medium to generated a minimalistic design for light sensitive hydrogel using enzyme catalyzed amide condensation. Our goal is to utilize the self-healing reversible enzyme triggered peptide self-assembly to obtain structurally optimized nanostructures incorporating porphyrin molecules without kinetic imperfections. A highly organized nano fiber network through minimal kinetic defects lead to good performance with the critical distance (10 Å) and preferred aggregation (J-aggregation) between porphyrin molecules by forming β-sheets locked together <i>via</i> π-π stacking interactions of Fmoc moieties. The xerogel was able to produce a steady photocurrent under a robust broadband light source (425 nm-800 nm) when used as the active layer in a thin film organic photodetector (OPD). Conclusively, we believe that the discussed peptide-porphyrin light harvesting nanostructures will serve as a decent light harvesting material in organic photovoltaic devices in the future with further device optimization.

Peptide-porphyrin self-assembled nanostructures for artificial light harvesting in aqueous medium

254th National Meeting (2017)

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