Photoelectric Characterization of Bacteriorhodopsin Reconstituted in Lipid Bilayer Membrane

<p>The objective of this work was to conduct basic research in biologically inspired energy conversion solutions. A photosynthetic protein (Bacteriorhodopsin) was reconstituted in a bi-layer membrane. Then, when a laser beam was shined on the membrane, the photon energy was used by the protein to pump protons across the membrane. The translocation of protons across the membrane was measured as photocurrent. For this purpose, a system was built to characterize the lipid bilayer membranes and to measure the photocurrent. The lipid bilayer membrane was characterized by its capacitance and resistance. A picoampere photocurrent was observed when Bacteriorhodopsin protein was present in the bilayer membrane and a 532 nm laser was used as light source. The obtained values were consistent with the reports from literature. An introduction to the generation of photocurrent by photosynthetic proteins in lipid membranes was reviewed and their applications are discussed in this thesis. </p>

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Science in Microelectronics-Photonics (MS)

Level thesis:degree_level

Thesis

Year dc:date.available

2014

Author dc:creator

• Kamwa, Joel

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Li, Jiali

Contributors dc:contributor

• Fritsch, Ingrid
• Naseem, Hameed A.

• Artificial photosynthesis
• Bacteriorhodopsin
• Biosolar cell
• Lipid membranes
• Photocurrent
• Protein membrane
• Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics
• Biophysics
• Electromagnetics and Photonics
• Nanoscience and Nanotechnology
• Power and Energy

Repository record dc:identifier

https://scholarworks.uark.edu/etd/2006

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:scholarworks.uark.edu:etd-3545