title: Controllable stationary photocurrents generated from a bacteriorhodopsin/upconversion nanoparticle-based bionanosystem under NIR illumination.
abstract: In the past few decades, tremendous effort has been dedicated to develop bacteriorhodopsin (bR)-based photo-electronic devices for generating a stationary photocurrent and further for use as a component of artificial retinas in constant illumination sensing. However, an IR-triggered stationary photocurrent with controllable amplitudes has never been realized to date. Herein, NaYF4:Yb,Er and NaYF4:Yb,Tm upconversion nanoparticles (UCNPs) with green and blue emissions, respectively, were synthesized and further incorporated with bR to build a bionanosystem. Under 980 nm NIR irradiation the UCNPs function as internal green and blue light sources to initiate the photocycle and speed up the transition of bR from M410to the ground state, consequently accelerating the bR photocycle for the generation of a stationary photocurrent. Moreover, the photocurrent profile could be tailored by changing the blue/green emission intensity ratio. The mechanism is analysed to explore the scientific insights. The system consisting of controllable blue and green light sources may not only hold great promise to construct new types of bR-based optical devices, but also offers a useful setup to investigate the fundamental science underlying the bR photoresponse.
authors: Institute for Clean Energy & Advance Materials, Southwest University, 1 Tiansheng Road, Chongqing 400715, P. R. China and Chongqing Key Laboratory for Advanced Materials & Technologies of Clean Energies, Southwest University, 1 Tiansheng Road, Chongqing 400715, P. R. China. ecmli@swu.edu.cn zslu@swu.edu.cn.
authors: Zhisong
authors: Z
authors: Lu
authors: Institute for Clean Energy & Advance Materials, Southwest University, 1 Tiansheng Road, Chongqing 400715, P. R. China and Chongqing Key Laboratory for Advanced Materials & Technologies of Clean Energies, Southwest University, 1 Tiansheng Road, Chongqing 400715, P. R. China. ecmli@swu.edu.cn zslu@swu.edu.cn.
authors: Jing
authors: J
authors: Wang
authors: Hubei Key Laboratory of Genetic Regulation and Integrative Biology, School of Life Sciences, Central China Normal University, Wuhan 430079, P. R. China.
authors: Rui
authors: R
authors: Li
authors: Institute for Clean Energy & Advance Materials, Southwest University, 1 Tiansheng Road, Chongqing 400715, P. R. China and Chongqing Key Laboratory for Advanced Materials & Technologies of Clean Energies, Southwest University, 1 Tiansheng Road, Chongqing 400715, P. R. China. ecmli@swu.edu.cn zslu@swu.edu.cn.
authors: Yan
authors: Y
authors: Qiao
authors: Institute for Clean Energy & Advance Materials, Southwest University, 1 Tiansheng Road, Chongqing 400715, P. R. China and Chongqing Key Laboratory for Advanced Materials & Technologies of Clean Energies, Southwest University, 1 Tiansheng Road, Chongqing 400715, P. R. China. ecmli@swu.edu.cn zslu@swu.edu.cn.
authors: Mengyao
authors: M
authors: Zhou
authors: Institute for Clean Energy & Advance Materials, Southwest University, 1 Tiansheng Road, Chongqing 400715, P. R. China and Chongqing Key Laboratory for Advanced Materials & Technologies of Clean Energies, Southwest University, 1 Tiansheng Road, Chongqing 400715, P. R. China. ecmli@swu.edu.cn zslu@swu.edu.cn and Institute for Materials Science and Devices, Suzhou University of Science and Technology, Suzhou 215011, P.R. China.
authors: Chang Ming
authors: CM
authors: Li
mesh_terms: D001436:Bacteriorhodopsins / Q000737:chemistry*; D007259:Infrared Rays; D053758:Nanoparticles / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D001436:Bacteriorhodopsins