TY - JOUR
T1 - Plasmon-enhanced photocurrent of photosynthetic pigment proteins on nanoporous silver
AU - Friebe, Vincent M.
AU - Delgado, Juan D.
AU - Swainsbury, David J. K.
AU - Gruber, J. Michael
AU - Chanaewa, Alina
AU - van Grondelle, Rienk
AU - von Hauff, Elizabeth
AU - Millo, Diego
AU - Jones, Michael R.
AU - Frese, Raoul N.
N1 - Funding Information:
M.R.J. and D.J.K.S. acknowledge support from the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council of the UK (Project No. BB/I022570/1). R.N.F. acknowledges support from the Dutch science foundation NWO for a vidi grant, D.M. for a veni grant (No. 722.011.003). M.R.J., R.N.F., D.J.K.S., V.M.F., and J.D.D. acknowledge support via EU COST Action TD1102—Photosynthetic proteins for technological applications: biosensors and biochips (PHOTOTECH). AMOLF Institute (Science Park, Amsterdam) is gratefully acknowledged for providing access to FIB etching, SEM, and EDX characterization. Rinke Wijngaarden and Leo Polak are acknowledged for providing access for diffuse reflectance spectroscopic characterization. Dr. Laura M. Roy is acknowledged for assistance in manuscript preparation.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2015 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.
PY - 2016/1/13
Y1 - 2016/1/13
N2 - In a quest to fabricate novel solar energy materials, the high quantum efficiency and long charge separated states of photosynthetic pigment-proteins are being exploited through their direct incorporation in bioelectronic devices. In this work, a biohybrid photocathode comprised of bacterial reaction center-light harvesting 1 (RC-LH1) complexes self-assembled on a nanostructured silver substrate yields a peak photocurrent of 166 μA cm-2 under 1 sun illumination, and a maximum of 416 μA cm-2 under 4 suns, the highest reported to date on a bare metal electrode. A 2.5-fold plasmonic enhancement of light absorption per RC-LH1 complex is observed on the rough silver substrate. This plasmonic interaction is assessed using confocal fluorescence microscopy, revealing an increase of fluorescence yield, and radiative rate of the RC-LH1 complexes, signatures of plasmon-enhanced fluorescence. Nanostructuring of the silver substrate also enhanced the stability of the protein under continuous illumination by almost an order of magnitude relative to a nonstructured bulk silver control. Due to its ease of construction, increased protein loading capacity, stability, and more efficient use of light, this hybrid material is an excellent candidate for further development of plasmon-enhanced biosensors and biophotovoltaic devices.
AB - In a quest to fabricate novel solar energy materials, the high quantum efficiency and long charge separated states of photosynthetic pigment-proteins are being exploited through their direct incorporation in bioelectronic devices. In this work, a biohybrid photocathode comprised of bacterial reaction center-light harvesting 1 (RC-LH1) complexes self-assembled on a nanostructured silver substrate yields a peak photocurrent of 166 μA cm-2 under 1 sun illumination, and a maximum of 416 μA cm-2 under 4 suns, the highest reported to date on a bare metal electrode. A 2.5-fold plasmonic enhancement of light absorption per RC-LH1 complex is observed on the rough silver substrate. This plasmonic interaction is assessed using confocal fluorescence microscopy, revealing an increase of fluorescence yield, and radiative rate of the RC-LH1 complexes, signatures of plasmon-enhanced fluorescence. Nanostructuring of the silver substrate also enhanced the stability of the protein under continuous illumination by almost an order of magnitude relative to a nonstructured bulk silver control. Due to its ease of construction, increased protein loading capacity, stability, and more efficient use of light, this hybrid material is an excellent candidate for further development of plasmon-enhanced biosensors and biophotovoltaic devices.
KW - bioelectronics
KW - biophotovoltaics
KW - biosensors
KW - photoelectrochemistry
KW - photosynthesis
KW - plasmon
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84954050845&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1002/adfm.201504020
DO - 10.1002/adfm.201504020
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84954050845
SN - 1616-301X
VL - 26
SP - 285
EP - 292
JO - Advanced Functional Materials
JF - Advanced Functional Materials
IS - 2
ER -