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Self-organized photosynthetic nanoparticle for cell-free hydrogen production

Nature Nanotechnology volume 5, pages 73–79 (2010)Cite this article

Abstract

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-c6 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 ∼ 5.5 µmol H2 h−1 mg−1 chlorophyll and is estimated to be ∼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.

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Figure 1: Schematic of the electron flow in the photosystem I catalytic nanoparticle.
Figure 2: Isolation of photosystem I.
Figure 3: Thermal stability of photosystem I monitored by circular dichroism.
Figure 4: Determining the role of each component in PSI-mediated hydrogen evolution.
Figure 5: Thermal and temporal stability of hydrogen evolution.
Figure 6: Peak rates of hydrogen evolution.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by a National Science Foundation (NSF) Nanoscience Interdisciplinary Research Team (NIRT) award to B.D.B. (DBI-0403781) and an NSF Sustainable Science Grant (CBET 0828615) award to P.D.F. and B.D.B. A SARIF Award and Science Alliance Award provided additional support to P.D.F. and B.D.B. The authors would like to acknowledge the technical help of J. Dunlap, A. Godman, C. Pacquet, P. Mahbubani and S. Wright, and also thank G. Alexandre, B. Evans, E. Greenbaum, D. Harrell, L. Johnson and B. Mullin for their input.

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Author notes

  1. Ifeyinwa J. Iwuchukwu and Michael Vaughn: These authors contributed equally to this work

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, 37996, Tennessee, USA

    Ifeyinwa J. Iwuchukwu, Paul Frymier & Barry D. Bruce

  2. Department of Biochemistry, Cellular and Molecular Biology, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, 37996, Tennessee, USA

    Michael Vaughn, Hugh O'Neill & Barry D. Bruce

  3. Department of Microbiology, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, 37996, Tennessee, USA

    Natalie Myers & Barry D. Bruce

  4. Chemical Sciences Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, 37831, Tennessee, USA

    Hugh O'Neill

  5. Sustainable Energy and Education Research Center (SEERC), University of Tennessee, Knoxville, 37996, Tennessee, USA

    Paul Frymier & Barry D. Bruce

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  1. Ifeyinwa J. Iwuchukwu
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  6. Barry D. Bruce
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Contributions

I.J.I. performed all the hydrogen evolution experiments, provided data analysis and assisted in manuscript preparation. M.V. grew and maintained T. elongatus, isolated and characterized PSI, assisted in cytochrome-c isolation, conducted thermostability measurements, composed all the figures, provided data analysis and manuscript preparation. N.M. cloned and developed the over-expression system for cytochrome-c and provided cytochrome-c for hydrogen evolution experiments. H.O.N. supervised hydrogen evolution experiments, helped coordinate the hydrogen experimentation, and participated in data analysis and manuscript preparation. P.F. coordinated hydrogen evolution experiments, supported I.J.I. and N.M., and participated in data analysis and manuscript preparation. B.D.B. provided overall coordination of the project, supervised the microbiology, molecular biology and biochemistry, provided support for M.V. and N.M., and participated in data analysis and manuscript preparation as corresponding author.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Barry D. Bruce.

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Iwuchukwu, I., Vaughn, M., Myers, N. et al. Self-organized photosynthetic nanoparticle for cell-free hydrogen production. Nature Nanotech 5, 73–79 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1038/nnano.2009.315

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