title: High-performance photovoltaic behavior of oriented purple membrane polymer composite films.
abstract: The photovoltaic behavior of films in which bacteriorhodopsin molecules are embedded in a polyvinyl alcohol matrix has been investigated by using both pulsed laser excitation and regular light illumination. Response times as short as milliseconds, photocurrents as great as 120 micro A/cm(2), and photovoltages as large as 3.8 V have been obtained. A theoretical model has been developed and used to extract several physical parameters and fit the experimental results. Some important intrinsic parameters have been obtained. Theoretical results indicate that the average displacement of the excited protons is on the order of several tens of microns. Other curve fits show that photocurrent and photovoltage increase linearly with external field, but increase exponentially with flash power. These theoretical models and results can be extended to other kinds of photoactive polymeric materials.
authors.affiliation: Fiber & Electro-Optics Research Center, Bradley Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, Virginia 24061-0356, USA.
authors.forename: Liangmin
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Tingying
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Zeng
authors.forename: Kristie
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Cooper
authors.forename: Richard O
authors.initials: RO
authors.lastname: Claus
mesh_terms: D001436:Bacteriorhodopsins / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000528:radiation effects*; D040761:Biomimetic Materials / Q000138:chemical synthesis / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000528:radiation effects*; D003198:Computer Simulation; D004307:Dose-Response Relationship, Radiation; D004563:Electrochemistry / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods; D007834:Lasers; D008027:Light; D008422:Materials Testing; D008564:Membrane Potentials; D008567:Membranes, Artificial; D008956:Models, Chemical; D011142:Polyvinyl Alcohol / Q000737:chemistry*; D011786:Quality Control; D014159:Transducers
chemical_list: D008567:Membranes, Artificial; D001436:Bacteriorhodopsins; D011142:Polyvinyl Alcohol