Photosystem II in bio-photovoltaic devices

Abstract

Hybrid photoelectrodes containing biological pigment-protein complexes can be used for environmentally friendly solar energy conversion, herbicide detection, and other applications. The total number of scientific publications on hybrid bio-based devices has grown rapidly over the past decades. Particular attention is paid to the integration of the complexes of PSII into photoelectrochemical devices. A notable feature of these complexes from a practical point of view is their ability to obtain electrons from abundant water. The utilization or imitation of the PSII functionality seems promising for all of the following: generating photoelectricity, photo-producing hydrogen, and detecting herbicides. This review summarizes recent advances in the development of hybrid devices based on PSII. In a brief historical review, we also highlighted the use of quinone-type bacterial reaction centers in hybrid devices. These proteins are the first from which the photoelectricity signal was detected. The photocurrent in these first systems, developed in the 70s-80s, was about 1 nA cm-2. In the latest work, by GĂźzel et al. (2020), a stable current of about 888 μA cm-2 as achieved in a PSII-based solar cell. The present review is inspired by this impressive progress. The advantages, disadvantages, and future endeavors of PSII-inspired bio-photovoltaic devices are also presented.