Abstract
Porous silicon microcavity (PSiMc) structures were used to immobilize the photosynthetic reaction center (RC) purified from the purple bacterium Rhodobacter sphaeroides R-26. Two different binding methods were compared by specular reflectance measurements. Structural characterization of PSiMc was performed by scanning electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy. The activity of the immobilized RC was checked by measuring the visible absorption spectra of the externally added electron donor, mammalian cytochrome c. PSi/RC complex was found to oxidize the cytochrome c after every saturating Xe flash, indicating the accessibility of specific surface binding sites on the immobilized RC, for the external electron donor. This new type of bio-nanomaterial is considered as an excellent model for new generation applications of silicon-based electronics and biological redox systems.
Highlights
In the last few years, the use of bio-nanocomposites has been the subject of extensive study
The extremely large quantum yield of the primary charge separation [9] in reaction center (RC) presents a great challenge to use it in artificial light harvesting systems
Morphological characterization Before binding RC to Porous silicon microcavity (PSiMc), the surface structure of this supporting material was explored by Atomic force microscopy (AFM) and Scanning electron microscopy (SEM)
Summary
In the last few years, the use of bio-nanocomposites has been the subject of extensive study. Several attempts to fabricate functional biocomposites by different groups have been reported [1,2,3,4,5,6]. Photosynthetic reaction center (RC) is one of the proteins of high interest, because it is nature's solar battery, converting light energy into chemical potential in the photosynthetic membrane, thereby assuring carbon reduction in cells [7,8]. RC functions on the nanometer scale, with nanoscopic power, this is the protein that assures the energy input practically for the whole biosphere on Earth. The extremely large quantum yield of the primary charge separation (close to 100%) [9] in RC presents a great challenge to use it in artificial light harvesting systems. As biological materials are very sensitive to the external effects and are generally stable only in their own environment, to keep them functional after their isolation, a special vehicle is necessary to hold and protect them from degradation
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