Nano-bio Hybrids for Energy Conversion Applications
Abstract: Nanomaterials open new opportunities for innovation and advancement in various fields of technology due to their unique tunable properties at the nanoscale. The convergence between nanomaterials and biological systems, the living and synthetic worlds, has evolved into a new science, nanobiotechnology, which offers great prospects for the development of both fundamental biological sciences and practical applications, ranging from the sustainable energy to neural modulation through optogenetics. The evolution of a new function of materials, which goes far beyond the individual inorganic particles and biological molecules, requires a powerful combination of chemical synthesis, manufacturing, synthetic biology and self-assembly into hybrid hierarchical structures.
In our research, we use opsins, transmembrane proteins found in a wide variety of biological entities, from simple unicellular organisms to humans, that function as light-guided channels that move ions across the cell membrane. Opsins can be co-assembled with inorganic materials into hybrid nanoarchitectures with novel function, not typical of a biological host.
For example, purple membranes isolated from Halobacterium salinarum embedding proton pump bacteriorhodopsin (bR) have been integrated with inorganic particles for sustainable energy applications [1-3]. Furthermore, the interplay between the natural photocycle of bR with plasmon resonance of Ag and Au metal nanostructures allowed to construct an “artificial cell” capable of photosynthesis of adenosine triphosphate (ATP), the universal energy storage biomolecule [4].
In addition to applications in the field of sustainable energy [5], nanobiotechnology is expected to advance healthcare and biological sciences. In recent years, opsins, such as whose described above, have gained significant attention in the field of optogenetics, an advanced method of controlling neurons in the brain using light. However, optogenetics also relies on implantable fiber optics to deliver photons into the brain. Instead, we have developed radioluminescent nanoparticles approach based on the down-conversion of X-ray energy into optical luminescence [6]. When these nanoparticles are introduced into the animal brain, they serve as an in situ source of photons for highly precise modulation of neurons, thus offering a novel wireless optogenetic approach.
References
[1] Balasubramanian, et al., “High-Performance Bioassisted Nanophotocatalyst for Hydrogen Production”. Nano Lett 13 (7), 3365-3371, 2013
[2] Wang, P. et al., “Cell-Free Synthetic Biology Chassis for Nanocatalytic Photon-to-Hydrogen Conversion”. ACS Nano 11 (7), 6739-6745, 2017
[3] Chen, Z. W., et. al., “Semi-artificial Photosynthetic CO2 Reduction through Purple Membrane Re-engineering with Semiconductor”. J Am Chem Soc 141 (30), 11811-11815, 2019
[4] Chen, Z. W. et. Al., “Light-Gated Synthetic Protocells for Plasmon-Enhanced Chemiosmotic Gradient Generation and ATP Synthesis”. Angew Chem Int Edit 58 (15), 4896-4900, 2019
[5] Wiederrecht G. P. et al, Nanomaterials and Sustainability, ACS Energy Lett., 8, 8, 3443–3449, 2023
[6] Chen, Z. W. et al., “Wireless optogenetic modulation of cortical neurons enabled by radioluminescent nanoparticles”. Nat Nanotechnol 15 (3), 5201-5208, 2021
Acknowledgment
Work performed at the Center for Nanoscale Materials, a U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science User Facility, was supported by the U.S. DOE, Office of Basic Energy Sciences, under Contract No. DE-AC02-06CH11357
Bio: Dr. Elena A. Rozhkova, earned her Ph.D. in Chemistry from Moscow State University of Fine Chemical Technology, Russia, in 1997. After completing JSPS Postdoctoral Fellowship at the Institute of Multidisciplinary Research for Advanced Materials, Tohoku University (Sendai, Japan), she moved to the US and joined Department of Chemistry, Princeton University as a Research Staff member. Since 2007 she is a Staff Scientist at the Center for Nanoscale Materials at Argonne National Laboratory. Her area of research is bio-inspired hybrid nanoarchitectures for energy conversion and biomodulation at the nano-bio interface. She is a recipient of professional awards: Brain Research Foundation Fay/Frank Women’s Council, the University of Chicago Argonne Board of Governors Distinguished Performance “In recognition of pioneering interdisciplinary cancer treatment research via bio-functionalized vortex structures”, the Prof. M. J. Nanjan Fourth Endowment Lecture and Award “For outstanding contributions in the field of nanobiotechnology”, the University of Madras, India. She served as a 2021-2022 IEEE Nanotechnology Council Distinguished Lecturer.
