INTERDISCIPLINARY MATERIALS SCIENCE
PHOTOSYSTEM I FROM HIGHER PLANTS ENHANCE ELECTRODE PERFORMANCE
DARLENE GUNTHER
Thesis under the direction of Professor G. Kane Jennings
Photosystem I (PSI) is a supramolecular protein complex found in the thylakoid membranes of higher plants, algae, and cyanobacteria. Recently, researchers from across the world have been interested in extracting PSI from its source and integrating it with electrodes to investigate biologically inspired solar energy conversion. There are two main investigations involving PSI in this thesis. First, adsorbing PSI monolayers onto atomically thin graphene creates a transparent, photoactive electrode that is less than 10 nm thick. Experiments utilizing PSI extracted from spinach and deposited onto graphene results in an enhanced photocurrent density over bare graphene electrodes. Furthermore, choice of opaque mediator with higher concentrations combined with highly transparent graphene produced larger photocurrents than the use of transparent mediator counterparts. Second, PSI is extracted from Pueraria lobata (kudzu) and deposited onto silicon electrodes for the first time. This study investigates the potential for transitioning from traditional food sources, such as spinach, to non-traditional food sources, such as kudzu, as a renewable resource for PSI. The kudzu-PSI-modified-silicon electrodes double the electrical output over bare silicon electrodes.
Approved: G. Kane Jennings
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:VANDERBILT/oai:VANDERBILTETD:etd-03252013-153116 |
| Date | 01 April 2013 |
| Creators | Gunther, Darlene |
| Contributors | G. Kane Jennings, David E. Cliffel |
| Publisher | VANDERBILT |
| Source Sets | Vanderbilt University Theses |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | http://etd.library.vanderbilt.edu/available/etd-03252013-153116/ |
| Rights | unrestricted, I hereby certify that, if appropriate, I have obtained and attached hereto a written permission statement from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis, dissertation, or project report, allowing distribution as specified below. I certify that the version I submitted is the same as that approved by my advisory committee. I hereby grant to Vanderbilt University or its agents the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible, under the conditions specified below, my thesis, dissertation, or project report in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis, dissertation or project report. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis, dissertation, or project report. |
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