Biotemplated nanomaterials for solar energy applications

A major challenge of the coming generations will be the impending energy crisis. Advances in nanoscience and nanotechnology are expected to play a major role in addressing this issue, through the harnessing of the superior properties of various nanomaterials and new degrees of molecular scale control. Herein, a novel platform for light harvesting nanostructures is developed and probed, incorporating biomolecules for the self-assembly of donor / acceptor nanoarchitectures. Due to extraordinary electron accepting and conductivity properties, single wall carbon nanotubes (SWNT) are explored as molecular wires, assembled non-covalently with a model donor. The unique self-assembly and target recognition properties of DNA oligonucleotides are used to mediate the assembly of these nanoarchitectures, simultaneously dispersing SWNT while interacting with target donor molecules. Upon binding with a model donor, a commercially available porphyrin, strong interactions between donor and acceptor are probed optically and photo-electrochemically, where strong charge transfer interactions are demonstrated. This platform introduces new techniques for nanoscale level control and tunability into the realm of photoelectrochemical solar cells by exploiting the dynamic structural properties of the oligonucleotide DNA. Further, the capabilities of new levels of SWNT processing and functionality are demonstrated using state-of-the-art sorted SWNT within these molecular donor/acceptor hybrids. It is envisioned that the developed model platform can form the basis for new classes of low-cost photoelectrochemical cells or electronic modulation of SWNT based electronics.