Title :
Biological molecular electronics
Author_Institution :
Oak Ridge Nat. Lab., TN, USA
Abstract :
Electrical contact of the electron transport chain of photosynthesis has been achieved by precipitating colloidal platinum onto the surface of thylakoid membranes. This composite metal-biological membrane material was immobilized on filter paper and sandwiched between metal gauze electrodes. Upon irradiation, oriented photocurrents were observed. The direction of the flow of photocurrent was consistent with the vectorial model of photosynthesis, which predicts that the electric potential of the external surface of photosynthetic membrane swings negative with respect to the internal surface. Control experiments indicated that the oriented nature of the observed photocurrents could not be attributed to structural asymmetries associated with electrodes or to light gradients associated with the direction of illumination.<>
Keywords :
biomolecular electronics; biological molecular electronics; colloidal Pt; composite metal-biological membrane material; electrical contact; electron transport chain; filter paper; illumination direction; irradiation; light gradients; metal gauze electrodes; oriented photocurrents; photosynthesis; vectorial model;
Conference_Titel :
Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society, 1988. Proceedings of the Annual International Conference of the IEEE
Conference_Location :
New Orleans, LA, USA
Print_ISBN :
0-7803-0785-2
DOI :
10.1109/IEMBS.1988.95317