Polydopamine/ethylenediamine nanoparticles embedding a photosynthetic bacterial Reaction Center for efficient photocurrent generation
| Main Authors: | Buscemi Gabriella, Vona Danilo, Ragni Roberta, Comparelli Roberto, Trotta Massimo, Milano Francesco, Farinola Gialuca M. |
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| Format: | info publication-preprint Journal |
| Terbitan: |
, 2021
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| Online Access: |
https://zenodo.org/record/5741720 |
Daftar Isi:
- Photoactive bio-hybrid soft nanoparticles are obtained by embedding the Rhodobacter sphaeroides Reaction Center (RC) in polydopamine (PDA) suspended aggregates and treating them with ethylenediamine (EDA). Such PDA:EDA@RC nanoparticles are investigated for photocurrent generation in photoelectrochemical cells, capable to convert sunlight into electrical energy. The photosynthetic protein retains its structural and functional integrity in the nanostructures and the PDA:EDA@RC nanoparticles exhibit better water dispersity, improved light collection ability and higher photocurrent generation compared to the PDA@RC precursors, where the reaction center is embedded in pure PDA. The hybrid soft nanoparticles incorporating the RC bacterial photoenzyme show charge separated state generation comparable to that of the pristine enzyme in solution, overcoming the main limitation of RC encapsulation in pure PDA, which is the polymer low light transmission ability. As a consequence, photocurrents obtained by RC within the PDA:EDA environment are almost doubled with respect to the PDA@RC. The bio-hybrid composites described here represent an interesting example of effective functional nanostructures for sunlight photoconversion based on a biological component addressed in a tunable bio-compatible polymer composite, also showing the potentialities of fine chemical tailoring of polydopamine bio-interfaces.