Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: High Resolution Image Download MS PowerPoint Slide Conductive polymers have been shown to be an effective scaffold for proteins when designing bioelectrochemical systems, particularly for the Photosystem I protein. Utilization of synthetic polymer chemistry has allowed a great deal of tunability within the protein/polymer interface to improve electron transfer from the proteins, ultimately progressing toward direct electron transfer from the active sites. Seeking to address this issue, a new heterogeneous approach is presented to synthesize Photosystem I/polypyrrole (PSI/PPy) composites. The oxidative potential of PSI’s P 700 reaction site was leveraged to polymerize pyrrole into a molecular wire, providing a more efficient means of electron transfer to the protein. Over the course of several hours of photopolymerization of Py in a PSI film, PPy not only wired PSI but began incasing the protein within conductive polymer nanoparticles. These resulting composite nanoparticles were extensively characterized by electron microscopy and electrochemical techniques to showcase their synergistic properties.
Source: Biomacromolecules
Institutions: Vanderbilt University, University of Louisville
Language: English
Subfield: Polymers and Plastics
Field: Materials Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
Estimated APC paid: $4,500
OpenAlex ID: W4409632485