Electrospray-assisted characterization and deposition of chlorosomes to fabricate a biomimetic light-harvesting device
- 20 October 2009
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) in Energy & Environmental Science
- Vol. 3 (2), 216-222
- https://doi.org/10.1039/b914758f
Abstract
Photosynthesis is an efficient process by which solar energy is converted into chemical energy. Green photosynthetic bacteria such as Chloroflexus aurantiacus have supramolecular antenna complexes called chlorosomes attached to their cytoplasmic membrane that increase the cross section for light absorption even in low-light conditions. Self-assembled bacteriochlorophyll pigments in the chlorosome interior play a key role in the efficient transfer and funneling of the harvested energy. In this work it was demonstrated that chlorosomes can be rapidly and precisely size-characterized online in real time using an electrospray-assisted mobility-based technique. Chlorosomes were electrospray-deposited onto TiO2 nanostructured films with columnar morphology to fabricate a novel biomimetic device to overcome the solvent compatibility issues associated with biological particles and synthetic dyes. The assembled unit retained the viability of the chlorosomes, and the harvesting of sunlight over a broader range of wavelengths was demonstrated. It was shown that the presence of chlorosomes in the biomimetic device had a 30-fold increase in photocurrent.Keywords
This publication has 31 references indexed in Scilit:
- Sensitivity of Micro-Raman Spectrum to Crystallite Size of Electrospray-Deposited and Post-Annealed Films of Iron-Oxide Nanoparticle SuspensionsApplied Spectroscopy, 2009
- Vertically-aligned nanostructures of ZnO for excitonic solar cells: a reviewEnergy & Environmental Science, 2008
- Immobilization of Functional Light Antenna Structures Derived from the Filamentous Green Bacterium Chloroflexus aurantiacusLangmuir, 2008
- Nanostructured photoactive films synthesized by a flame aerosol reactorAIChE Journal, 2007
- High‐Efficiency Organic‐Dye‐ Sensitized Solar Cells Controlled by Nanocrystalline‐TiO2 Electrode ThicknessAdvanced Materials, 2006
- Antenna size dependent exciton dynamics in the chlorosomal antenna of the green bacterium Chloroflexus aurantiacusFEBS Letters, 1996
- Morphology and spectroscopy of chlorosomes from Chlorobium tepidum by alcohol treatmentsBiochimica et Biophysica Acta (BBA) - Bioenergetics, 1995
- Revealing the blueprint of photosynthesisNature, 1994
- Excitation energy flow in chlorosome antennas of green photosynthetic bacteriaThe Journal of Physical Chemistry, 1989
- Long-range molecular order as an efficient strategy for light harvesting in photosynthesisNature, 1988