The use of proteins involved in the photosynthetic process enables the development of affordable and efficient devices for energy conversion.
The use of proteins involved in the photosynthetic process enables the development of affordable and efficient devices for energy conversion. However, although proteins such as photosystem I are robust in nature, the use of isolated protein complexes incorporated in semi-artificial electrodes is associated with a considerably short long-term stability. In consequence, the technological application of these kind of biodevices is still limited. Researchers at Ruhr-Universität Bochum (RUB) showed that a careful operation of the photosystem-based bioelectrode under the exclusion of oxygen is the key for achieving high stability.
The team involving Dr. Fangyuan Zhao, Dr. Adrian Ruff, Dr. Felipe Conzuelo, and Professor Wolfgang Schuhmann from the Chair of Analytical Chemistry and Center for Electrochemical Sciences, together with Professor Matthias Rögner from the Bochum Chair of Plant Biochemistry describes the results in the “Journal of the American Chemical Society”.
Using green energy
Efficiently producing energy for a more sustainable society is nowadays a continuous challenge. Therefore, it is important not only to understand but also to overcome the processes that currently limit the lifetime of technologies for green and renewable energy conversion. Among different promising techniques, the use of protein complexes involved in the photosynthetic process for the fabrication of semi-artificial devices is of particular interest due to their high efficiency and large natural availability.
Read more at Ruhr-Universität Bochum
Photo: Wolfgang Schuhmann, Fangyuan Zhao, Adrian Ruff and Felipe Conzuelo (from the left) work on long-lasting bioelectrodes. CREDIT: RUB / Marquard
