Engineering of photosynthesis proteins and attachment to electrodes for conversion of solar light to electrical power

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Plants and photosynthetic bacteria harvest light with incredibly high efficiencies and convert light energy to chemical potential energy. Can we benefit from nature's methods in order to generate electrical power? This proposal is to take an interdisciplinary approach to this question. The methods rely on genetic engineering and biochemical separation techniques, along with device modeling and fabrication techniques.The creation of new photosynthesis protein variants and development of biochemical methods, in combination with the modeling and fabrication skills has resulted in an opportunity to investigate and exploit the incredible solar to electrical energy conversion capabilities of naturally occurring proteins.The specific experiments will utilize proteins that naturally harvest light energy and convert this energy to a flow of electrons. In photosynthesis, this electron flow is immediately tapped in chemical reactions by other proteins in a living cell. In our work we will remove the proteins from the cell, such that the light-driven electron flow is diverted to a fabricated electrode and enters an electrical circuit, where it can be used to power devices. Work by others has shown the feasibility of this approach but currents and voltages have been much smaller than is theoretically possible. In our approach the efficient transfer of electrons from the protein to the electrode will be enhanced by using genetically engineered proteins, whose surface properties are changed in geometrically and chemically precise ways. The net result of using these altered proteins will be much closer and uniform orientation of the electron donor (the protein) to the acceptor (the electrode), and hence greatly improved electrical current.