Fabrication, Characterization and Reactivity of Bio-electrodes

This thesis focuses on understanding of the electrocatalytic reactivity of the bioelectrodes for the O2 reduction reaction or nitric oxide reduction reaction. A number of synthetic methods were attempted to synthesize a modified heme cofactor. The heme cofactors were modified in a way so that they can be covalently attached to the electrode followed by the site specific attachment of the apoprotein onto the electrodes. A variety of spectroscopic tools have been used to probe the spectroscopic features of the active site structure as well as the protein conformations and the reactivity of the heme based bioelectrocatalysts involved in the reduction of O2 or that of nitric oxide.The research was conducted under Dr. Avishek Dey of Inorganic Chemistry division under SCS [School of Chemical Sciences