Self-Organized Photosynthetic Nanoparticle for Cell-free Hydrogen Production
- ORNL
- University of Tennessee, Knoxville (UTK)
There is considerable interest in making use of solar energy through photosynthesis to create alternative forms of fuel. Here, we show that photosystem I from a thermophilic bacterium and cytochrome-c6 can, in combination with a platinum catalyst, generate a stable supply of hydrogen in vitro upon illumination. The self-organized platinization of the photosystem I nanoparticles allows electron transport from sodium ascorbate to photosystem I via cytochrome-c{sub 6} and finally to the platinum catalyst, where hydrogen gas is formed. Our system produces hydrogen at temperatures up to 55 C and is temporally stable for >85 days with no decrease in hydrogen yield when tested intermittently. The maximum yield is {approx} 5.5 {micro}mol H{sub 2} h{sup -1} mg{sup -1} chlorophyll and is estimated to be {approx} 25-fold greater than current biomass-to-fuel strategies. Future work will further improve this yield by increasing the kinetics of electron transfer, extending the spectral response and replacing the platinum catalyst with a renewable hydrogenase.
- Research Organization:
- Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). Center for Structural Molecular Biology (CSMB)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Laboratory Directed Research and Development (LDRD) Program; USDOE Office of Science (SC)
- DOE Contract Number:
- DE-AC05-00OR22725
- OSTI ID:
- 970916
- Journal Information:
- Nature Nanotechnology, Vol. 5, Issue 1
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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