Oriented protein biocathodes for the production of renewable dihydrogen

该提案描述了一种从水中生产氢气(H2)的新型系统的开发。这一新系统由两种含金属的蛋白质和一段短蛋白质序列组成，这种蛋白质序列可以在电活性表面形成一个连接点。表面是将水转化为氢气所需的电流的初始来源。组装中的这两种蛋白质可以被认为是建筑的基础和建筑本身。第一种蛋白质作为基础，将电流传递给第二种蛋白质，第二种蛋白质容纳了生产氢气所需的机械。这些活跃地点所涉及的所有元素都是地球上丰富的铁。关键的进展是使用2-蛋白质组装体以相对于电活性电极材料最有效的方式定向氢气产生部位。这种方法克服了迄今为止阻碍酶在可再生能源生产中使用的重要技术挑战。重要的是，我们认为这些新设计的材料可以与使用稀有和昂贵元素的最先进材料竞争，如铂。

This proposal describes the development of a new type of system for the production of hydrogen gas (H2) fromwater. The new system is comprised of two metal-containing proteins and a short protein sequence that createsa point of attachment to electrically active surfaces. The surface is the initial source of the electric currentneeded to convert water to H2. The two proteins in the assembly can be thought of as the foundation of abuilding and the building itself. The first protein acts as the foundation and mediates the flow of electriccurrent to the second protein, which houses the machinery needed to produce H2. All of the elements involvedin those active sites are Earth-abundant iron. The key advance is the use of the 2-protein assembly to orient theH2-generating sites in the most efficient manner with respect to the electrically active electrode material. Thisapproach overcomes important technical challenges that have so far hindered the use of enzymes in renewableenergy production. Importantly, we think that these new designs stand to result in materials that can competewith state-of-the-art materials that employ scarce and costly elements, such as platinum.