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Toward Escherichia coli bacteria machine for water oxidation

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Abstract

Nature uses a Mn oxide-based catalyst for water oxidation in plants, algae, and cyanobacteria. Mn oxides are among major candidates to be used as water-oxidizing catalysts. Herein, we used two straightforward and promising methods to form Escherichia coli bacteria/Mn oxide compounds. In one of the methods, the bacteria template was intact after the reaction. The catalysts were characterized by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, visible spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, high-resolution transmission electron microscopy, diffuse reflectance infrared Fourier transform spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, and X-ray diffraction spectrometry. Electrochemical properties of the catalysts were studied, and attributed redox potentials were assigned. The water oxidation of the compounds was examined under electrochemical condition. Linear sweep voltammetry showed that the onsets of water oxidation in our experimental condition for bacteria and Escherichia coli bacteria/Mn oxide were 1.68 and 1.56 V versus the normal hydrogen electrode (NHE), respectively. Thus, the presence of Mn oxide in the catalyst significantly decreased (~ 120 mV) the overpotential needed for water oxidation.

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Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful to the Institute for Advanced Studies in Basic Sciences and Iran National Science Foundation for the financial support. The reported study was funded by grant RFBR-Iran according to the joint research Project Nos. 17-54-560012, 96003636 supported by Russian Foundation for Basic Research and by Iran National Science Foundation (INSF).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemistry, Institute for Advanced Studies in Basic Sciences (IASBS), Zanjan, 45137-66731, Iran

    Mohammad Mahdi Najafpour & Navid Jameei Moghaddam

  2. Center of Climate Change and Global Warming, Institute for Advanced Studies in Basic Sciences (IASBS), Zanjan, 45137-66731, Iran

    Mohammad Mahdi Najafpour

  3. Research Center for Basic Sciences and Modern Technologies (RBST), Institute for Advanced Studies in Basic Sciences (IASBS), Zanjan, 45137-66731, Iran

    Mohammad Mahdi Najafpour

  4. Department of Biological Sciences, Institute for Advanced Studies in Basic Sciences (IASBS), Zanjan, 45195-1159, Iran

    Leila Hassani

  5. Surface Protection Research Group, Surface Department, Ningbo Institute of Materials Technology and Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 519 Zhuangshi Road, Ningbo, 315201, China

    Robabeh Bagheri & Zhenlun Song

  6. Controlled Photobiosynthesis Laboratory, Institute of Plant Physiology, Russian Academy of Sciences, Botanicheskaya Street 35, Moscow, 127276, Russia

    Suleyman I. Allakhverdiev

  7. Institute of Basic Biological Problems, Russian Academy of Sciences, Institutskaya Street 2, Pushchino, Moscow Region, 142290, Russia

    Suleyman I. Allakhverdiev

  8. Department of Plant Physiology, Faculty of Biology, M.V. Lomonosov Moscow State University, Leninskie Gory 1-12, Moscow, 119991, Russia

    Suleyman I. Allakhverdiev

  9. Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, Institutsky Lane 9, Dolgoprudny, Moscow Region, 141700, Russia

    Suleyman I. Allakhverdiev

  10. Bionanotechnology Laboratory, Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences, Matbuat Avenue 2a, 1073, Baku, Azerbaijan

    Suleyman I. Allakhverdiev

Authors
  1. Mohammad Mahdi Najafpour
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  2. Navid Jameei Moghaddam
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  3. Leila Hassani
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  4. Robabeh Bagheri
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  5. Zhenlun Song
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  6. Suleyman I. Allakhverdiev
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Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Mohammad Mahdi Najafpour or Suleyman I. Allakhverdiev.

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Najafpour, M.M., Moghaddam, N.J., Hassani, L. et al. Toward Escherichia coli bacteria machine for water oxidation. Photosynth Res 136, 257–267 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11120-018-0499-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11120-018-0499-7

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