Cell-Free Synthetic Biology Chassis for Nanocatalytic Photon-to-Hydrogen Conversion.

Wang, Peng; Chang, Angela Y; Novosad, Valentyn; Chupin, Vladimir V; Schaller, Richard D; Rozhkova, Elena A · ACS Nano · 2017

basic_science · Level V

Where this comes from

Abstract

We report on an entirely man-made nano-bio architecture fabricated through noncovalent assembly of a cell-free expressed transmembrane proton pump and TiO<sub>2</sub> semiconductor nanoparticles as an efficient nanophotocatalyst for H<sub>2</sub> evolution. The system produces hydrogen at a turnover of about 240 μmol of H<sub>2</sub> (μmol protein)<sup>-1</sup> h<sup>-1</sup> and 17.74 mmol of H<sub>2</sub> (μmol protein)<sup>-1</sup> h<sup>-1</sup> under monochromatic green and white light, respectively, at ambient conditions, in water at neutral pH and room temperature, with methanol as a sacrificial electron donor. Robustness and flexibility of this approach allow for systemic manipulation at the nanoparticle-bio interface toward directed evolution of energy transformation materials and artificial systems.

Medical subject headings