Speaker:
Nikhil Malvankar
Seminar Date:
Friday, November 13, 2015 - 12:00pm
Location:
BECTON SEMINAR ROOM
15 Prospect Street
New Haven, CT
Electronic nanostructures made from natural amino acids are attractive due to their low cost, facile synthesis and absence of
toxicity. However, most biomaterials are electronically insulating. Electron transport in proteins generally occurs through
inorganic co-factors via tunneling or hopping mechanism and the possibility of electron delocalization or metal-like
conductivity has been considered previously impossible. In this talk, I will present our recent work on protein nanofilaments,
pili, of electricity-producing Geobacter sulfurreducens that challenges this long-standing belief. Using nanoelectrodes and
scanning probe microscopy-based imaging approach to quantify electron transport in native proteins, we have found out that
pili propagate charges in a delocalized manner similar to carbon nanotubes, enabling cells to generate electricity and produce
methane via cell-to-cell electrical connections. Structural and molecular studies revealed that conductive pili possess unique
arrangement of aromatic amino acids that facilitate intermolecular electron delocalization. I will present strategies to
genetically engineer electronic properties of these protein-based nanomaterials for energy, environmental and bioelectronics
device applications such as fuel cells, transistors and supercapacitors.
Host:
Eric Altman
Seminar Announcement Brochure: