scholarly journals Semi-artificial Photosynthetic CO2 Reduction through Purple Membrane Re-engineering with Semiconductor

2019 ◽  
Vol 141 (30) ◽  
pp. 11811-11815 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhaowei Chen ◽  
He Zhang ◽  
Peijun Guo ◽  
Jingjing Zhang ◽  
Gregory Tira ◽  
...  
2018 ◽  
Vol 2018 ◽  
pp. 1-14 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ilaria Gamba

The development of artificial photosynthetic technologies able to produce solar-fuels from CO2 reduction is a fundamental task that requires the employment of specific catalysts being accomplished. Besides, effective catalysts are also demanded to capture atmospheric CO2, mitigating the effects of its constantly increasing emission. Biomimetic transition metal complexes are considered ideal platforms to develop efficient and selective catalysts to be implemented in electrocatalytic and photocatalytic devices. These catalysts, designed according to the inspiration provided by nature, are simple synthetic molecular systems capable of mimic features of the enzymatic activity. The present review aims to focus the attention on the mechanistic and structural aspects highlighted to be necessary to promote a proper catalytic activity. The determination of these characteristics is of interest both for clarifying aspects of the catalytic cycle of natural enzymes that are still unknown and for developing synthetic molecular catalysts that can readily be applied to artificial photosynthetic devices.


Author(s):  
A. Tonosaki ◽  
M. Yamasaki ◽  
H. Washioka ◽  
J. Mizoguchi

A vertebrate disk membrane is composed of 40 % lipids and 60 % proteins. Its fracture faces have been classed into the plasmic (PF) and exoplasmic faces (EF), complementary with each other, like those of most other types of cell membranes. The hypothesis assuming the PF particles as representing membrane-associated proteins has been challenged by serious questions if they in fact emerge from the crystalline formation or decoration effects during freezing and shadowing processes. This problem seems to be yet unanswered, despite the remarkable case of the purple membrane of Halobacterium, partly because most observations have been made on the replicas from a single face of specimen, and partly because, in the case of photoreceptor membranes, the conformation of a rhodopsin and its relatives remains yet uncertain. The former defect seems to be partially fulfilled with complementary replica methods.


Author(s):  
Jules S. Jaffe ◽  
Robert M. Glaeser

Although difference Fourier techniques are standard in X-ray crystallography it has only been very recently that electron crystallographers have been able to take advantage of this method. We have combined a high resolution data set for frozen glucose embedded Purple Membrane (PM) with a data set collected from PM prepared in the frozen hydrated state in order to visualize any differences in structure due to the different methods of preparation. The increased contrast between protein-ice versus protein-glucose may prove to be an advantage of the frozen hydrated technique for visualizing those parts of bacteriorhodopsin that are embedded in glucose. In addition, surface groups of the protein may be disordered in glucose and ordered in the frozen state. The sensitivity of the difference Fourier technique to small changes in structure provides an ideal method for testing this hypothesis.


Author(s):  
X. Zhang ◽  
J. Spence ◽  
W. Qian ◽  
D. Taylor ◽  
K. Taylor

Experimental point-projection shadow microscope (PPM) images of uncoated, unstained purple membrane (PM, bacteriorhodopsin, a membrane protein from Halobacterium holobium) were obtained recently using 100 volt electrons. The membrane thickness is about 5 nm and the hexagonal unit cell dimension 6 nm. The images show contrast around the edges of small holes, as shown in figure 1. The interior of the film is opaque. Since the inelastic mean free path for 100V electrons in carbon (about 6 Å) is much less than the sample thickness, the question arises that how much, if any, transmission of elastically scattered electrons occurs. A large inelastic contribution is also expected, attenuated by the reduced detection efficiency of the channel plate at low energies. Quantitative experiments using an energy-loss spectrometer are planned. Recently Shedd has shown that at about 100V contrast in PPM images of thin gold films can be explained as Fresnel interference effects between different pinholes in the film, separated by less than the coherence width.


2003 ◽  
Vol 774 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. Ricceri ◽  
G. Scicolone ◽  
O. Di Marco ◽  
S. Conoci ◽  
B. Pignataro ◽  
...  

AbstractBacterio-rhodopsin purple membrane (PM) thin films have been prepared by selfassembling (SA) technique. Morphological properties of the layers were inspected by Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and Scanning Force Microscopy (SFM) highlighting the presence of densely packed PM films. Reflectance Uv-vis spectra on these films revealed the typical bR absorption at 570 nm. By using a tungsten lamp illuminations (250-350 mW) chopped at 0.5Hz, photoelectric responses were detected. Differential (light-on and light-off) photocurrent signals of up to 1 μA/cm2 were obtained upon light exposure.


2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charles D. Gorecki ◽  
Edward N. Steadman ◽  
John A. Harju ◽  
James A. Sorensen ◽  
John A. Hamling ◽  
...  

Author(s):  
Peter T. Smith ◽  
Sophia Weng ◽  
Christopher Chang

We present a bioinspired strategy for enhancing electrochemical carbon dioxide reduction catalysis by cooperative use of base-metal molecular catalysts with intermolecular second-sphere redox mediators that facilitate both electron and proton transfer. Functional synthetic mimics of the biological redox cofactor NADH, which are electrochemically stable and are capable of mediating both electron and proton transfer, can enhance the activity of an iron porphyrin catalyst for electrochemical reduction of CO<sub>2</sub> to CO, achieving a 13-fold rate improvement without altering the intrinsic high selectivity of this catalyst platform for CO<sub>2</sub> versus proton reduction. Evaluation of a systematic series of NADH analogs and redox-inactive control additives with varying proton and electron reservoir properties reveals that both electron and proton transfer contribute to the observed catalytic enhancements. This work establishes that second-sphere dual control of electron and proton inventories is a viable design strategy for developing more effective electrocatalysts for CO<sub>2</sub> reduction, providing a starting point for broader applications of this approach to other multi-electron, multi-proton transformations.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer A. Rudd ◽  
Ewa Kazimierska ◽  
Louise B. Hamdy ◽  
Odin Bain ◽  
Sunyhik Ahn ◽  
...  

The utilization of carbon dioxide is a major incentive for the growing field of carbon capture. Carbon dioxide could be an abundant building block to generate higher value products. Herein, we describe the use of porous copper electrodes to catalyze the reduction of carbon dioxide into higher value products such as ethylene, ethanol and, notably, propanol. For <i>n</i>-propanol production, faradaic efficiencies reach 4.93% at -0.83 V <i>vs</i> RHE, with a geometric partial current density of -1.85 mA/cm<sup>2</sup>. We have documented the performance of the catalyst in both pristine and urea-modified foams pre- and post-electrolysis. Before electrolysis, the copper electrode consisted of a mixture of cuboctahedra and dendrites. After 35-minute electrolysis, the cuboctahedra and dendrites have undergone structural rearrangement. Changes in the interaction of urea with the catalyst surface have also been observed. These transformations were characterized <i>ex-situ</i> using scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. We found that alterations in the morphology, crystallinity, and surface composition of the catalyst led to the deactivation of the copper foams.


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