A MEMS Photosynthetic Electrochemical Cell Powered by Subcellular Plant Photosystems

Author

Lam, Kien Bang ; Johnson, Eric A. ; Chiao, Mu ; Lin, Liwei

Volume

15

Issue

5

fYear

2006

fDate

10/1/2006 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

1243

Lastpage

1250

Abstract

A microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) photosynthetic electrochemical cell $(\\mu PEC)$ was demonstrated that harnesses the subcellular thylakoid photosystems isolated from spinach cells to convert light energy into electricity. Subject to light intensity of 2000 $\\mu mol$ photons/ $m ^2$ /s, it generated an open circuit voltage (OCV) of 470 mV and a current density of 1.1 $\\mu A/cm^2$ at 5.2 $\\mu V$ . In the dark, the $\\mu PEC$ continued to yield power for a few minutes using reduced equivalents generated during illumination, generating 330 mV OCV and 0.1 $\\mu A/cm^2$ with a 1 $k\\Omega$ load. The output level is comparable to other MEMS biological fuel cells previously reported. The biosolar cell was bulk-micromachined from silicon and Pyrex substrates and assembled like a fuel cell in an anode-PEM-cathode configuration. This biosolar cell could have potential to serve as a power source for micro-scale devices like remote sensors.1359

Keywords

Biological fuel cell; micropower source; photosynthesis; photosystems; solar cell; Circuits; Current density; Energy conversion; Fuel cells; Lighting; Microelectromechanical systems; Micromechanical devices; Power generation; Silicon; Voltage; Biological fuel cell; micropower source; photosynthesis; photosystems; solar cell;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Microelectromechanical Systems, Journal of

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

1057-7157

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/JMEMS.2006.880296

Filename

1707785