Enzyme-material composites for solar-driven reactions

<p>Using sunlight to drive chemical reactions has long been one of the goals in developing sustainable processes. Previous research has focused on solar fuel production in the form of H<sub>2</sub>, but this thesis demonstrates that solar-to-chemicals processes can be constructed t...

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Main Author: Siritanaratkul, B
Other Authors: Armstrong, F
Format: Thesis
Language:English
Published: 2017
Subjects:
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author Siritanaratkul, B
author2 Armstrong, F
author_facet Armstrong, F
Siritanaratkul, B
author_sort Siritanaratkul, B
collection OXFORD
description <p>Using sunlight to drive chemical reactions has long been one of the goals in developing sustainable processes. Previous research has focused on solar fuel production in the form of H<sub>2</sub>, but this thesis demonstrates that solar-to-chemicals processes can be constructed to produce more complex compounds, using hybrid systems composed of enzymes and inorganic materials.</p> <p>Tetrachloroethene reductive dehalogenase (PceA), an enzyme that catalyzes the conversion of tetrachloroethene (PCE) to trichloroethene (TCE) and subsequently to <em>cis</em>-dichloroethene (<em>c</em>DCE), was shown to accept electrons from both graphite and TiO<sub>2</sub> electrodes. Irradiation by UV light onto PceA-adsorbed TiO<sub>2</sub> particles led to the selective production of TCE and <em>c</em>DCE, which was not possible without PceA as a catalyst.</p> <p>Ferredoxin-NADP<sup>+</sup> reductase (FNR) is a key enzyme in photosynthesis, as it receives energetic electrons from Photosystem I and produces NADPH as an energy carrier for downstream 'Dark' reactions involving CO<sub>2</sub> assimilation. This thesis presents the discovery of FNR activity on indium tin oxide (ITO) electrodes which led to direct electrochemical investigation of the properties of FNR, both in the absence and presence of its substrate, NADP<sup>+</sup>. The FNR-adsorbed electrode, termed 'the electrochemical leaf', rapidly interconverts NADP<sup>+</sup>/NADPH, and this was coupled to a downstream NADPH-dependent enzyme, thus demonstrating a new approach to cofactor regeneration for enzyme-catalyzed organic synthesis. The NADP<sup>+</sup> reduction by FNR was also driven by light using a photoanode made of visible-light responsive semiconductors.</p>
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spelling oxford-uuid:55df8993-254b-4960-8ef4-fd9624206f3b2022-03-26T16:46:54ZEnzyme-material composites for solar-driven reactionsThesishttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_db06uuid:55df8993-254b-4960-8ef4-fd9624206f3bChemistryEnglishORA Deposit2017Siritanaratkul, BArmstrong, F<p>Using sunlight to drive chemical reactions has long been one of the goals in developing sustainable processes. Previous research has focused on solar fuel production in the form of H<sub>2</sub>, but this thesis demonstrates that solar-to-chemicals processes can be constructed to produce more complex compounds, using hybrid systems composed of enzymes and inorganic materials.</p> <p>Tetrachloroethene reductive dehalogenase (PceA), an enzyme that catalyzes the conversion of tetrachloroethene (PCE) to trichloroethene (TCE) and subsequently to <em>cis</em>-dichloroethene (<em>c</em>DCE), was shown to accept electrons from both graphite and TiO<sub>2</sub> electrodes. Irradiation by UV light onto PceA-adsorbed TiO<sub>2</sub> particles led to the selective production of TCE and <em>c</em>DCE, which was not possible without PceA as a catalyst.</p> <p>Ferredoxin-NADP<sup>+</sup> reductase (FNR) is a key enzyme in photosynthesis, as it receives energetic electrons from Photosystem I and produces NADPH as an energy carrier for downstream 'Dark' reactions involving CO<sub>2</sub> assimilation. This thesis presents the discovery of FNR activity on indium tin oxide (ITO) electrodes which led to direct electrochemical investigation of the properties of FNR, both in the absence and presence of its substrate, NADP<sup>+</sup>. The FNR-adsorbed electrode, termed 'the electrochemical leaf', rapidly interconverts NADP<sup>+</sup>/NADPH, and this was coupled to a downstream NADPH-dependent enzyme, thus demonstrating a new approach to cofactor regeneration for enzyme-catalyzed organic synthesis. The NADP<sup>+</sup> reduction by FNR was also driven by light using a photoanode made of visible-light responsive semiconductors.</p>
spellingShingle Chemistry
Siritanaratkul, B
Enzyme-material composites for solar-driven reactions
title Enzyme-material composites for solar-driven reactions
title_full Enzyme-material composites for solar-driven reactions
title_fullStr Enzyme-material composites for solar-driven reactions
title_full_unstemmed Enzyme-material composites for solar-driven reactions
title_short Enzyme-material composites for solar-driven reactions
title_sort enzyme material composites for solar driven reactions
topic Chemistry
work_keys_str_mv AT siritanaratkulb enzymematerialcompositesforsolardrivenreactions