Developing Devices that use Biotemplated Nanoparticles for Sustainable Energy Generation

在这个项目中，我将从大自然中获得灵感，开发可捕获光能的可持续材料，并用这些材料制造太阳能电池。英国和欧盟已经设定了到2050年实现气候中和的目标。解决这一问题的方法之一是从燃烧化石燃料转向使用可再生能源，如太阳能。植物利用复杂的光合分子来获取光能。不幸的是，这些分子太脆弱了，我们无法将其用于工业规模的光收集。取而代之的是，我们在太阳能电池中使用能够将光转化为电的矿物质，或者用于催化的化学反应。这些具有光学活性的纳米颗粒也非常适合制作彩色显示器和成像。制造这些矿物纳米颗粒通常需要高温（200摄氏度）、危险溶剂（甲苯、丙酮等）和有毒元素（如镉、铅）。为了达到2050年的净零目标，我们需要开发高质量的光捕获纳米粒子，这种纳米粒子是在室温下用温和的溶剂（如水）和更安全、更丰富的元素制成的。在这里，我将开发更友好的方法，使镉和无铅的光学活性纳米粒子。天然生物矿物;比如骨头、牙齿和贝壳；是由生物分子制造的，这些生物分子控制着精确形成的矿物的大小、形状和类型。这些生物分子包括蛋白质，它们已经进化到能够特异性地结合和模板天然生物矿物质。这些蛋白质在水中、在环境温度下以及利用地球上丰富的元素来完成这一过程。我们还没有在这些自然存在的生物矿物质中发现光收集纳米粒子，所以我将使用自然的工具来制造它们。我将使用显示特定蛋白质的生物支架，并将数十亿个支架与光收集纳米粒子混合。这将使我能够挑选出与纳米颗粒表面结合的蛋白质。结合到表面上和从溶液中制造粒子是不一样的，所以我会把结合蛋白改进成模板蛋白。光学活性纳米粒子的大小和元素组成需要精确控制，以获得均匀的光吸收和发射。目前使用高温溶剂工艺来实现这种控制。生物模板蛋白能够通过被称为肽序列的蛋白质的短片段结合到生长晶体的特定侧面、角落或边缘。通过这种方式，这些肽序列可以精确地控制生物模板晶体的性质。可能的肽序列太多，无法全部测试，所以我将开发计算工具来帮助我选择最好的。我将根据上面发现的粘合剂设计测试序列，我将监测形成的纳米颗粒的颜色，以找到最佳的模板肽。最好的纳米粒子将用于从水中和室温下制造具有光学活性的纳米粒子。我还将使用计算工具来研究生物分子如何与这些目标表面结合，并从溶液中模板纳米粒子。我将在表面上绘制生物模板肽的图案。这将使我在温和的条件下，在表面上形成具有光学活性的纳米颗粒。这些表面将被用作太阳能电池中光收集和催化装置的组件。我将用这些生物模板材料制造太阳能电池，并测试它们的耐用性和效率，证明它们是有效的。我还将测试这些材料在用水制氢和显示器上的应用。我为此开发的彩色材料也将用于有趣的艺术与科学合作，以展示这项研究。我将在这里开发的绿色方法将有助于制造2050年可持续气候中和设备的方法。

In this project I will take inspiration from Nature to develop sustainable materials that capture light energy, and use these to make solar cells.The UK and EU have set climate neutral targets to reach by 2050. One way to contribute to this is to switch from burning fossil fuels to using renewable energy sources, such as solar power. Plants use complicated photosynthetic molecules to harvest light energy. Unfortunately, these molecules are too delicate for us to use for industrial scale light harvesting. In their place, we use minerals that are able to convert light into electricity in solar cells, or into chemical reactions for catalysis. These optically active nanoparticles are also great for making colourful displays and for imaging. Making these mineral nanoparticles usually needs high temperatures (200 Celsius), dangerous solvents (toluene, acetone, etc.) and toxic elements (e.g. cadmium, lead). To meet the 2050 net-zero targets, we need to develop high-quality light capturing nanoparticles that are made at room temperature in mild solvents (like water) and from safer, more abundant elements. Here I will develop kinder methods of making cadmium and lead-free optically active nanoparticles.Natural biominerals; such as bones, teeth and shells; are made by biomolecules that control the size, shape and type of mineral that is formed with precision. These biomolecules include proteins, which have evolved to specifically bind to and template natural biominerals. The proteins do this in water, at ambient temperatures and using elements that are abundant on Earth. We have not found light harvesting nanoparticles amongst these naturally occurring biominerals, so I will use tools from Nature to make them. I will use biological scaffolds that display a specific protein, and mix billions of them with light harvesting nanoparticles. This will allow me to pick out proteins that specifically bind to the nanoparticle surface. Binding to a surface is not the same as making a particle from solution, so I will improve the binding proteins into templating proteins. The size and elemental composition of an optically active nanoparticle needs to be precisely controlled to get a uniform absorption and emission of light. High-temperature solvent processes are currently used to impart this control. Biotemplating proteins are able to bind to specific sides, corners or edges of a growing crystal through short sections of the protein called peptide sequences. In this way, these peptide sequences control the properties of the biotemplated crystal with precision.There are too many possible peptide sequences to test them all, so I will develop computational tools to help me to select the best ones. I will design sequences to test based on the binders discovered above, and I will monitor the colour of the forming nanoparticles to find the best templating peptides. The best ones will be used to make optically active nanoparticles from water and at room temperature. I will also use computational tools to study how the biomolecules bind to these target surfaces and template the nanoparticles from solution.I will pattern the biotemplating peptides on surfaces. This will allow me to form optically active nanoparticles on surfaces, under mild conditions. These surfaces will be used as components to build devices for light harvesting in solar cells and for catalysis. I will build solar cells using these biotemplated materials, and test their durability and efficiency, showing that they work. I will also test these materials for use in making hydrogen from water, and for use in displays. The colourful materials I develop to do this will also be used to make interesting art-science collaborations to showcase this research. The green methods I will develop here will contribute to ways of making devices for a sustainable climate neutral 2050.