Research & Teaching Faculty

Purification and preparation of Rhodobacter sphaeroides reaction centers for photocurrent measurements and atomic force microscopy characterization

TitlePurification and preparation of Rhodobacter sphaeroides reaction centers for photocurrent measurements and atomic force microscopy characterization
Publication TypeJournal Article
Year of Publication2022
AuthorsJun, D, Zhang, S, Grzedowski, AJan, Mahey, A, J. Beatty, T, Bizzotto, D
JournalSTAR Protocols
Volume3
Pagination101044
ISSN2666-1667
Abstract

The formation of defined surfaces consisting of photosynthetic reaction centers (RCs) in biohybrid solar cells is challenging. Here, we start with the production of engineered RCs for oriented binding. RCs are deposited onto gold electrodes, and 6-mercapto-1-hexanol (MCH) is used to displace multilayers and non-specifically adsorbed RCs. The resulting electrode surfaces are analyzed for photocurrent generation using an intensity-modulated light and lock-in amplifier. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) is used to characterize the surface and the formation of RC structural assemblies. For complete details on the use and execution of this profile, please refer to Jun et al. (2021).

DOI10.1016/j.xpro.2021.101044