Researchers from the Concordia University have performed a study using a bacterial enzyme that can prove useful for harvesting solar energy. In this experiment, the enzyme was made to behave like a battery.
László Kálmán, Associate Professor at the Concordia University and Kai Tang and Sasmit Deshmukh, graduate students at the university, performed the study using bacterial enzyme that is able to capture solar energy. In reality, sunlight stimulates the enzyme to acquire a positive charge at one end and a negative charge in the other end.
The enzyme is present in the lipid membrane of the bacterial cell. The charge-separated state of the enzyme is not maintained for a longer time, as the enzyme’s structure enables the charges to reunite rapidly.
However, Kálmán said that the researchers have identified a way to maintain the charge-separated state of the enzyme for a longer time. He and his group added various molecules to change the enzyme shape and succeeded in extending the charge-separated state.
When various lipid molecules were added, the shape of the membrane differed from the embedded enzyme. Both the membrane and enzyme altered their configurations to fit with each other. This alteration allowed the electrical potential to stay for a longer time.
Kálmán added that the researchers focused mainly on old natural systems since the energy produced from abundantly available natural resources like water, sun and CO2 and is carbon neutral.
In future, this technology could be used for biocompatible batteries and medicine, especially, to monitor post surgical patients. The enzymes and other biological molecules are suitable alternatives to existing batteries made with toxic metal.
The study has been published in The Journal of the American Chemical Society.