Semi-Biological Photovoltaic Cells

在这个应用程序中，我们的目标是利用光合作用，一个基本的生物过程，并利用它将自然阳光转化为一种可利用的能量形式与生物光伏板。采用多学科方法，我们打算证明生物光伏发电用于生产氢气和/或电力的可行性。在生物制氢领域已经进行了大量的工作，但到目前为止，已经证明很难克服限制该技术商业化的主要技术障碍，即光合作用过程中产生的氧气会抑制体内氢化酶产生氢气。尽管有一些人对制造带有纯化蛋白质复合物的人工装置来克服这个问题感兴趣，但这些装置尚未被证明在经济上可行。在这个应用中，我们建议在使用完整的Gloeobacter细胞的半生物光伏装置中分离氧气光合作用和氢气生产过程。该装置基本上由两个室或半细胞组成，因此生物材料可以在一个室中收集光能，而氢气可以在第二个厌氧室中产生。这种生物制氢的电化学方法在物理上将光合作用与氢的演化分离开来，这样做可以防止光合作用过程中产生的氧气抑制氢的产生。此外，这种电化学方法可以以类似于标准硅基光伏板的方式用于产生直流电流；在这个应用中，我们还将探索生物光伏板发电的潜力。

In this application we aim to harness photosynthesis, a fundamental biological process, and use it to convert natural sunlight into a utilisable form of energy with a biological photovoltaic panel. Using a multidisciplinary approach, we intend to prove the feasibility of biological photovoltaics for the production of hydrogen and/or electricity. A large amount of work has already been carried out in thefield of biological hydrogen production, but so far it has proven to be difficult to overcome the major technical hurdle that limits the commercialisation of this technology, namely that the oxygen produced during photosynthesis inhibits the production of hydrogen from the hydrogenase enzyme in vivo. Although there has been some interest in fabricating artificial devices with purified protein complexes to overcome this problem, these have not yet been shown to be economically feasible. In this application, we propose to separate the processes of oxygenic photosynthesis and hydrogen production in a semi-biological photovoltaic device using intact Gloeobacter cells. The device will essentially be composed of two chambers, or half-cells, so that biological material can harvest light energy in one chamber, and hydrogen can be produced in a second anaerobic chamber. This electrochemical approach to biological hydrogen production physically separates photosynthesis from hydrogen evolution, and by doing so, it prevents the oxygen produced during photosynthesis from inhibiting the production of hydrogen. In addition, this electrochemical approach can be used to produce a DC electrical current, in a manner analogous to standard silicon based photovoltaic panels; in this application we will also explore the potential of biological photovoltaic panels for the production of electricity.