Scientists at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory have been studying the LHC-II protein extracted from spinach. The primary role of the LHC-II protein is as a solar collector, absorbing sunlight and transferring it to the photosynthetic reaction centres, but it can also carry out electron transfer reactions.
When LHC-II is introduced into a liquid environment containing polymers, it interacts with the polymers to form sheets similar to those found in natural photosynthetic membranes. The ability of LHC-II to force the assembly of structural polymers into an ordered, layered state, could make the development of biohybrid photoconversion systems possible. These systems would consist of high surface area, light-collecting panes that use the proteins combined with a catalyst such as platinum to convert the sunlight into hydrogen, which could be used for fuel.
Reference
Mateus B. Cardoso, Dmitriy Smolensky, William T. Heller, Kunlun Hong, Hugh O'Neill. Supramolecular assembly of biohybrid photoconversion systems. Energy & Environmental Science, 2011; 4 (1): 181 DOI: 10.1039/C0EE00369G
Further Reading
Carbon Cycle
Proteins
Oxidation and Reduction
Polymers
Fuel
Study Questions:
- Describe the process of photosynthesis.
- Write a chemical equation to demonstrate this process of photosynthesis.
- What is meant by the term 'electron transfer reaction' used in the article above?
- Is photosynthesis an example of an electron transfer reaction?
- Many electron transfer reactions in nature. Describe one example.
- Describe what Chemists mean when they call something a protein.
- Explain what is meant by the term 'polymer' as used by Chemists.
- When Chemists refer to a protein forming sheets, what type of protein structure are they referring to? Explain how this type of structure can form.
- What is meant by the term 'catalyst'?
- Why is a catalyst necessary for man-made systems designed to convert sunlight into hydrogen to be used as a fuel?
No comments:
Post a Comment