NIRT-Integration of Photosynthetic Complexes into Novel Biomolecular Electronic Devices

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This proposal leading to this award was received in response to Nanoscale Science and Engineering initiative, NSF 03-043, category NIRT. The award will support the joint efforts of investigators at the University of Tennessee and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who will explore the use of naturally occurring photosynthetic complexes to produce an efficient photovoltaic device (solar cell). Conventional silicon-based (inorganic) solar cells remain costly and energy intensive to manufacture. This has limited the use of photovoltaic devices to much less than 1% of the worldwide supply of energy. Preliminary work by the investigators has shown that bacterial photosynthetic systems, whose overall quantum is nearly 100%, can be joined to amorphous organic semiconductors to produce a functioning device. Although this device has low efficiency, work on stabilization of the membranous structures that hold the photosystem components is expected to lead to devices whose power conversion efficiency can match or exceed that of the best existing silicon-based photovoltaic devices. If successful, this effort could eventually lead to the production of inexpensive solar cells that are flexible and lightweight, and that perform competitively with inorganic semiconductor cells. In addition to these research efforts, the investigators will undertake a multi-tiered education strategy that targets graduate and undergraduate students through research involvement and a variety of graduate-level courses. Outreach efforts aimed at middle school students and their teachers are also planned.