A Photovoltaic Device Using an Electrolyte Containing Photosynthetic Reaction Centers

Takshi, Arash; Madden, John D.; Mahmoudzadeh, Ali; Saer, Rafael G.; Beatty, J. Thomas

doi:10.3390/en3111721

Cited by 23 publications

(42 citation statements)

References 16 publications

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“…28 The photophysical properties of the pigments are 75 fine-tuned by nature by an elegantly engineered biopolymer material called protein that offers the biological systems the required degree of specificity, efficiency and control to accomplish a biological function. 33 Thus the antenna systems exist as an assemblage of pigment and protein where the 80 photosynthetic pigments are bound to the proteins in highly specific associations to ensue in an effective light absorption. 28,33 The antenna complex concentrates the collected light energy to the RC where the photochemical reaction takes place.…”

Section: Role Of Light Harvesting Antenna Complexesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Progress and perspectives in exploiting photosynthetic biomolecules for solar energy harnessing

Ravi

Tan

2015

Energy Environ. Sci.

104

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5Photosynthetic proteins are emerging as a new class of photovoltaic materials as their nature-designed architecture and internal circuitry are so sophisticated that they carry out the initial light-driven steps of photosynthesis with ≈ 100% quantum efficiency. Research on bioinspired solar cells has increased in recent years as they promise better efficiency than the conventional p-n junction solar cells that have limited conversion efficiency (34%). Since it is a mammoth task to perfectly mimic the intricate proteins 10 evolved in nature, the idea of interfacing the natural proteins with engineered materials seems propitious for developing biohybrid solar cells. Herein, we summarize various approaches in immobilizing the photosynthetic biomolecules in photovoltaic devices and the progress in the photocurrent generation achieved. This review highlights the multidisciplinary nature of photosynthetic biohybrid devices and their future prospects in light of some of the research challenges and discrepancies witnessed by this field. 15 The fascinating aspect of this research area is that it guides the biologists to explore the possibilities of improving protein stability and robustness suitable for solar cells and inspires the solar cell researchers to explore the physics behind the working mechanisms of biohybrid solar cells which can generate novel architectures in future solar energy conversion devices. 60 superior system and mechanism for light harvesting and energy conversion. Their quantum efficiencies 17 are higher than that of the manmade solar cells. [18][19][20] Photosynthesis is an exemplary model for solar cell research as it is the prime mover powering the biological world, the mechanism behind the energy storage in 65 fossil fuels and the sustainer of earth's oxygenated atmosphere. 21 The architecture and the internal circuitry of the photosynthetic systems are very sophisticated that the initial light driven steps have ≈ 100% quantum efficiency. 18,22,23 Bioinspiration of photosynthesis in solar cells has instigated novel research 70 perspectives which are, in close pace, moving towards devising a high efficiency solar cell. Artificial Photosynthesis is one novel approach that tries to emulate the natural photosynthetic systems REVIEW This journal is © The Royal Society of Chemistry [year] [journal], [year], [vol], 00-00 | 9Fig. 7 (a) Two possible ways of RC binding and ET pathways between RC and electrode. P-primary electron donor (special pair), B-monomeric bacteriochlorophyll, H-bacteriopheophytin, Qa and Qb-primary and secondary electron acceptors (quinones). [Adapted from ref. 81 and ref.34, with permission from Elsevier Ltd] (b) Photoinduced-and dark-electron transfers in RC-Cyt-SAM-Gold electrode [Adapted with permission from ref.82,

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Section: Role Of Light Harvesting Antenna Complexesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Progress and perspectives in exploiting photosynthetic biomolecules for solar energy harnessing

Ravi

Tan

2015

Energy Environ. Sci.

104

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“…By adding only one mediator the current slightly increased. However, significant improvement in the photocurrent was only observed when both mediators (Cyt c and Q) were present, suggesting indirect charge transfer between RCs and electrodes via mediators [7,9]. In principle if tunneling was effective, only one mediator (Cyt c) would be enough for the cell with immobilized RCs.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 90%

“…In contrast to numerous efforts on protein immobilization, there are only a few reports on direct application of proteins in the electrolyte of a cell [9,[13][14]. The reason might be due to concern about proteins denaturation by direct contact with a surface of an unmodified electrode [15][16].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…The reason might be due to concern about proteins denaturation by direct contact with a surface of an unmodified electrode [15][16]. However, the recent results indicate good stability of the RCs in the absence of the insulating layer on the electrodes [9,13]. In this work, the photocurrent response and the lifetime of a bio-photoelectrochemical cell with immobilized RCs from H-subunit on a carbon electrode has been compared with another cell with solubilized RCs in the electrolyte.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…Employing RCs in a bio-photoelectrochemical cell to harvest solar energy, the charges must be transferred to the electrodes either directly or through charge carrier mediators [12]. Two approaches dominate the techniques to fabricate cells; (I) using an electrode with immobilized RCs by linker molecules [4][5][6]8] and (II) using solubilized RCs in the electrolyte with mediators [9]. In the first approach, RCs are immobilized on the electrode surface with a specific orientation to have a short distance between negative (or positive) charge in the RC and the electrode for direct charge transfer.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Free-floating Reaction Centers (RCs) versus Attached Monolayer of RCs in Bio-photoelectrochemical Cells

et al. 2012

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The high quantum efficiency (~100%) in the bacterial photosynthetic reaction center (RC) has inspired research on the application of RCs to build protein based solar cells. Conventionally, applying RCs as the photosensitive layer on the surface of a carbon electrode has shown poor photocurrents in the cells. The low photocurrent is partly due to the weak absorption of light in the monolayer of RCs. Also, an Atomic Force Microscopy image of the electrode shows lots of defects on the immobilized RCs at the electrode surface. In this work, we have built a biophotoelectrochemical cell in which the RCs are floating in the electrolyte instead of being attached to the surface of an electrode. Despite the simple structure of the cell, the photocurrent is significantly higher in the new cell compared to when RCs are attached to an electrode. The amplitude of current reached to ~40 nA for free floating RCs, about five times larger than that in the cell with attached RCs. The aging effect was studied in both cells in a course of a week. The lifetime of attached RCs on electrode surface was slightly better than solubilized RCs in the electrolyte. Also, it is found that the mechanism which governs the charge transfer from RCs to the electrodes is the same in both bio-photoelectrochemical cells.

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Photoactive Electrodes Incorporating Electrosprayed Bacterial Reaction Centers

Mirvakili

Slota

Usgaocar

et al. 2014

Adv Funct Materials

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Highly effi cient light absorption and charge separation within the photosystem and reaction center (RC) complexes of photosynthetic plants and bacteria are of great interest for solar cell and photo detector applications, since they offer almost unity quantum yield and expected ultimate power conversion effi ciencies of more than 18% and 12%, respectively. In addition, the charge separated states created by these protein complexes are very long lived compared to conventional semiconductor solar cells. In this work, a novel technique is presented for the deposition of photosynthetic protein complexes, by electrospraying RCs of Rhodobacter sphaeroides onto highly ordered pyrolytic graphite (HOPG) electrodes. Remarkably, it is shown that the RCs not only survive exposure to the high electric fi elds but also yield peak photocurrent densities of up to 7 µA cm −2 , which is equal to the highest value reported to date.

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A Photovoltaic Device Using an Electrolyte Containing Photosynthetic Reaction Centers

Cited by 23 publications

References 16 publications

Progress and perspectives in exploiting photosynthetic biomolecules for solar energy harnessing

Progress and perspectives in exploiting photosynthetic biomolecules for solar energy harnessing

Free-floating Reaction Centers (RCs) versus Attached Monolayer of RCs in Bio-photoelectrochemical Cells

Photoactive Electrodes Incorporating Electrosprayed Bacterial Reaction Centers

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