creators_name: Araya, Christopher Espinoza
creators_name: Starbird , Ricardo
creators_name: Prasad, E senthil
creators_name:  Renugopalakrishnan , Venkatesan
creators_name: Mulchandani , Ashok
creators_name: Bruce, Barry D
creators_name: Villarreal ,  Claudia C
type: article
datestamp: 2024-07-16 04:31:13
lastmod: 2024-07-16 04:31:13
metadata_visibility: show
title: A bacteriorhodopsin-based biohybrid solar cell using carbon-based electrolyte and cathode components 
ispublished: pub
subjects: QR
keywords: Bacteriorhodopsin; Bio-sensitized solar cell; Carbon nanotubes; PEDOT; Quinone
note: The copyright of this article belongs to Elsevier Science
abstract: There is currently a high demand for energy production worldwide, mainly producing renewable and sustainable energy. Bio-sensitized solar cells (BSCs) are an excellent option in this field due to their optical and photoelectrical properties developed in recent years. One of the biosensitizers that shows promise in simplicity, stability and quantum efficiency is bacteriorhodopsin (bR), a photoactive, retinal-containing membrane protein. In the present work, we have utilized a mutant of bR, D96N, in a photoanode-sensitized TiO2 solar cell, integrating low-cost, carbon-based components, including a cathode composed of PEDOT (poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) functionalized with multi-walled carbon nanotubes (CNT) and a hydroquinone/benzoquinone (HQ/BQ) redox electrolyte. The photoanode and cathode were characterized morphologically and chemically (SEM, TEM, and Raman). The electrochemical performance of the bR-BSCs was investigated using linear sweep voltammetry (LSV), open circuit potential decay (VOC), and impedance spectroscopic analysis (EIS). The champion device yielded a current density (JSC) of 1.0 mA/cm2, VOC of -669 mV, a fill factor of ~24 %, and a power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 0.16 %. This bR device is one of the first bio-based solar cells utilizing carbon-based alternatives for the photoanode, cathode, and electrolyte. This may decrease the cost and significantly improve the device's sustainability.


date: 2023-11-01
date_type: published
publication: Biochimica Et Biophysica Acta-Bioenergetics 
volume: 1864
number: 4
publisher: Elsevier Science
id_number: 10.1016/j.bbabio.2023.148985
refereed: TRUE
official_url: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0005272823000312?via%3Dihub
citation:   Araya, Christopher Espinoza and Starbird , Ricardo and Prasad, E senthil and  Renugopalakrishnan , Venkatesan and Mulchandani , Ashok and Bruce, Barry D and Villarreal , Claudia C  (2023) A bacteriorhodopsin-based biohybrid solar cell using carbon-based electrolyte and cathode components.  Biochimica Et Biophysica Acta-Bioenergetics , 1864 (4).