Issue 11, 2009

Thylakoids entrapped within porous silica gel: towards living matter able to convert energy

Abstract

Thylakoids, photosynthetic sub-cellular plant structures, have been entrapped within silica network using the sol-gel process. The photocatalytic splitting of H2O into O2 by these structures has been studied using a Clark cell reactor. The influence of the silica precursor concentration on the chemical, morphological and diffusion properties of the matrix have been investigated and correlated with the enzymatic activity of entrapped thylakoids. Compared to the free thylakoid suspension, the bioactivity of entrapped thylakoids can be extended during several weeks. The addition of stabilizing agents (i.e.glycerol and bovine serum albumin) does not essentially improve the oxygen production. This work clearly demonstrates that through the immobilization of photosynthetic membranes, photocatalytic reactors capable of biomimicking photosynthetic processes, such as harvesting solar energy and splitting water molecules, can easily be targeted.

Graphical abstract: Thylakoids entrapped within porous silica gel: towards living matter able to convert energy

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
01 Oct 2008
Accepted
01 Dec 2008
First published
03 Feb 2009

J. Mater. Chem., 2009,19, 1535-1542

Thylakoids entrapped within porous silica gel: towards living matter able to convert energy

C. F. Meunier, P. Van Cutsem, Y. Kwon and B. Su, J. Mater. Chem., 2009, 19, 1535 DOI: 10.1039/B817172F

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Spotlight

Advertisements