Table Of ContentPhotosynthetic
Protein-Based Photovoltaics
Photosynthetic
Protein-Based Photovoltaics
Edited by
Swee Ching Tan
CRC Press
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© 2019 by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC
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Printed on acid-free paper
International Standard Book Number-13: 978-1-4987-2489-0 (Hardback)
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Dedication
This book is specially dedicated to my lovely wife, Hazel, who
has always been my pillar to give me unwavering support. To
my two cute daughters, Valerie and Estella, your smiles are
CRC Press the most powerful magic potion to brighten up my day and to
Taylor & Francis Group
freshen up my mind to conquer this book-writing journey.
6000 Broken Sound Parkway NW, Suite 300
Boca Raton, FL 33487-2742
To my parents and parents-in-law, no words are
© 2019 by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC
strong enough to express how thankful Hazel and I
CRC Press is an imprint of Taylor & Francis Group, an Informa business
are that you help take care of our children.
No claim to original U.S. Government works
To my sister, thanks for doing free babysitting at times.
Printed on acid-free paper
International Standard Book Number-13: 978-1-4987-2489-0 (Hardback)
This book contains information obtained from authentic and highly regarded sources. Reasonable efforts
have been made to publish reliable data and information, but the author and publisher cannot assume
responsibility for the validity of all materials or the consequences of their use. The authors and publishers
have attempted to trace the copyright holders of all material reproduced in this publication and apologize to
copyright holders if permission to publish in this form has not been obtained. If any copyright material has
not been acknowledged please write and let us know so we may rectify in any future reprint.
Except as permitted under U.S. Copyright Law, no part of this book may be reprinted, reproduced, transmit-
ted, or utilized in any form by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented,
including photocopying, microfilming, and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system,
without written permission from the publishers.
For permission to photocopy or use material electronically from this work, please access www.copyright.
com (http://www.copyright.com/) or contact the Copyright Clearance Center, Inc. (CCC), 222 Rosewood
Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, 978-750-8400. CCC is a not-for-profit organization that provides licenses and
registration for a variety of users. For organizations that have been granted a photocopy license by the CCC,
a separate system of payment has been arranged.
Trademark Notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used
only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe.
Visit the Taylor & Francis Web site at
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Contents
Preface.......................................................................................................................ix
About the Editor ........................................................................................................xi
Contributors ...........................................................................................................xiii
Chapter 1 Learning from Nature to Improve Solar Energy
Conversion Devices ..........................................................................1
Di Sheng Lee, Yoke Keng Ngeow, and Swee Ching Tan
Chapter 2 Developments in Electrodes and Electrolytes of Dye-Sensitized
Solar Cells ..........................................................................................23
Ajay K. Kushwaha, Nagaraju Mokurala, Krishnaiah Mokurala,
and Siddhartha Suman
Chapter 3 Organic Bulk Heterojunction Solar Cells...........................................61
Daize Mo, Tianyu Bai, Leilei Tian, and Feng He
Chapter 4 Reaction Centers as Nanoscale Photovoltaic Devices ......................109
Michael R. Jones
Chapter 5 Bio-photoelectrochemical Cells: Protein Immobilization
Routes and Electron Transfer Modes ...............................................141
Sai Kishore Ravi, Vishnu Saran Udayagiri, Anuraj Singh
Rawat, and Swee Ching Tan
Chapter 6 Electronics, Photonics, and Device Physics in Protein
Biophotovoltaics ...............................................................................161
Sai Kishore Ravi and Swee Ching Tan
Chapter 7 Challenges and Opportunities of Photosynthetic
Protein-Based Solar Cell ..................................................................225
Di Sheng Lee, Yoke Keng Ngeow, and Swee Ching Tan
Index ......................................................................................................................237
vii
Preface
Nature is regarded as an implicit school of engineering because its biological systems
have emerged as a result of rigorous evolutionary experimentations with incredible
design solutions. The heart of it is photosynthesis, a solar-powered process that sus-
tains life on Earth. With rising concerns about the need for cost-effective and sus-
tainable photovoltaic technologies, photosynthesis stands as an ideal model to mimic
and adopt in the emerging and future solar technologies. The prime objective of this
book is to help to lay a bridge between the insights gained from the natural photo-
synthetic processes/machineries and physics/engineering of photovoltaic devices, so
that researchers and engineers from diverse disciplines such as biochemistry, solid-
state physics, electrochemistry, and photovoltaics shall draw inspiration and contrib-
ute to the growing interdisciplinary research on sustainable energy harvesting.
The book is designed in such a way that it can provide students and professionals
of science and engineering disciplines with a comprehensive and accurate account of
the basic principles and the recent progress in the field of biophotovoltaics. It essen-
tially focuses only on the “non-living” biohybrid systems integrated with proteins
and pigments isolated from plants and bacteria rather than on systems involving live
cells. The book offers an eclectic mix of concepts and approaches from various dis-
ciplines of science and engineering, with sufficient illustrations and a light narrative
tone for ease of understanding.
With a motivational account on how photosynthesis can impact future energy
technologies, Chapter 1 briefs some of the limitations in the conventional solar cells
and highlights the need to learn from nature to improve the emerging solar energy
conversion devices. Integrating proteins from plants or bacteria in a device setup
requires a basic understanding of some of the existing photovoltaics devices, their
structures, and functions. Hence a review of the basic device architectures, compo-
nents, and working mechanisms of two main fields of photovoltaics, namely dye-
sensitized solar cells (DSSC) and organic bulk heterojunction (BHJ) solar cells, is
outlined in the subsequent chapters (Chapters 2 and 3). The working of these devices,
in general, relies on the concepts of materials chemistry and photonics, with DSSCs
interfacing with electrochemistry in addition and BHJs involving solid-state physics.
These concepts inevitably apply to biophotovoltaics as well, though there are more
complexities in the construction and working of the device when there is a biological
component in it. With a concise note on the structure and function of the different
photosynthetic proteins, Chapter 4 throws light on that hub of all photosynthetic
organisms, which is the nanoscale reaction center (RC) where the charge separation
begins. The RC is the most efficient molecular system that drives the solar energy
into electrical (and in turn chemical) energy conversion. The physics of charge sepa-
ration process, dynamics, and kinetics of electron transfer in the RCs are presented
in Chapter 4. With these chapters, the reader might get a good instinct on how these
proteins can be used in photovoltaics. Chapter 5 presents an account of the progress
made in the last decade in integrating the proteins in electrochemical cells, with a
focus on different immobilization routes and the ensuing charge transfer modes.
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