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

Daniel Jun; Sylvester Zhang; Adrian Jan Grzędowski; Amita Mahey; J. Thomas Beatty; Dan Bizzotto

STAR Protocols (Mar 2022)

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

Daniel Jun,
Sylvester Zhang,
Adrian Jan Grzędowski,
Amita Mahey,
J. Thomas Beatty,
Dan Bizzotto

Affiliations

Daniel Jun: Advanced Materials and Process Engineering Laboratory, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4, Canada; Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z1, Canada; Corresponding author
Sylvester Zhang: Advanced Materials and Process Engineering Laboratory, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4, Canada; Department of Chemistry, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z1, Canada
Adrian Jan Grzędowski: Advanced Materials and Process Engineering Laboratory, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4, Canada; Department of Chemistry, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z1, Canada
Amita Mahey: Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z1, Canada
J. Thomas Beatty: Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z1, Canada
Dan Bizzotto: Advanced Materials and Process Engineering Laboratory, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4, Canada; Department of Chemistry, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z1, Canada; Corresponding author

Journal volume & issue: Vol. 3, no. 1
p. 101044

Abstract

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Summary: 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).

Published in STAR Protocols

ISSN: 2666-1667 (Online)
Publisher: Elsevier
Country of publisher: United States
LCC subjects: Science: Science (General)
Website: https://star-protocols.cell.com/

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