title: Rapid assembly of photosystem I monolayers on gold electrodes.
abstract: Photosystem I (PSI) has drawn widespread interest for use in biomimetically inspired energy conversion devices upon extracting it from plants or cyanobacteria and assembling it at surfaces. Here, we demonstrate that a critically dense monolayer of spinach-derived PSI must be formed on an electrode surface to achieve optimal photocurrents, and we introduce a new method for preparing these dense PSI monolayers that reduces the time required for assembly by approximately 80-fold in comparison to that for adsorption from solution. This method consists of applying a vacuum above the aqueous PSI solution during assembly to concentrate PSI and precipitate it into a thick layer onto the surface of various self-assembled monolayers or directly onto the electrode surface. Rinsing with water yields a dense monolayer of PSI that draws approximately 100 nA/cm2 of light-induced current from the gold electrode in the presence of appropriate mediators.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Engineering, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee 37235, USA.
authors.forename: Christopher J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Faulkner
authors.forename: Susan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lees
authors.forename: Peter N
authors.initials: PN
authors.lastname: Ciesielski
authors.forename: David E
authors.initials: DE
authors.lastname: Cliffel
authors.forename: G Kane
authors.initials: GK
authors.lastname: Jennings