TY - JOUR
T1 - Thylakoids entrapped within porous silica gel
T2 - Towards living matter able to convert energy
AU - Meunier, C.F.
AU - Kwon, Y.-U.
AU - Su, B.-L.
AU - Van Cutsem, P.
N1 - Copyright 2009 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
PY - 2009/1/1
Y1 - 2009/1/1
N2 - Thylakoids, photosynthetic sub-cellular plant structures, have been entrapped within silica network using the sol-gel process. The photocatalytic splitting of HO into O 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.
AB - Thylakoids, photosynthetic sub-cellular plant structures, have been entrapped within silica network using the sol-gel process. The photocatalytic splitting of HO into O 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.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=61549118095&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1039/b817172f
DO - 10.1039/b817172f
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:61549118095
SN - 0959-9428
VL - 19
SP - 1535
EP - 1542
JO - Journal of Materials Chemistry
JF - Journal of Materials Chemistry
IS - 11
ER -