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Light is a convenient source of energy and the heart of light-harvesting natural systems and devices. Here, we show light-modulation of both the chemical nature and ionic charge carrier concentration within a protein-based biopolymer that was covalently functionalized with photoacids or photobases. We explore the capability of the biopolymer-tethered photoacids and photobases to undergo excited-state proton transfer and capture, respectively. Electrical measurements show that both the photoacid- and photobase-functionalized biopolymers exhibit an impressive light-modulated increase in ionic conductivity. Whereas cationic protons are the charge carriers for the photoacid-functionalized biopolymer, water-derived anionic hydroxides are the suggested charge carriers for the photobase-functionalized biopolymer. Our work introduces a versatile toolbox to photomodulate both protons and hydroxides as charge carriers in polymers, which can be of interest for a variety of applications., (© 2021 Wiley-VCH GmbH.)

A central vision in molecular electronics is the creation of devices with functional molecular components that may provide unique properties. Proteins are attractive candidates for this purpose, as they have specific physical (optical, electrical) and chemical (selective binding, self-assembly) functions and offer a myriad of possibilities for (bio-)chemical modification. This Progress Report focuses on proteins as potential building components for future bioelectronic devices as they are quite efficient electronic conductors, compared with saturated organic molecules. The report addresses several questions: how general is this behavior; how does protein conduction compare with that of saturated and conjugated molecules; and what mechanisms enable efficient conduction across these large molecules? To answer these questions results of nanometer-scale and macroscopic electronic transport measurements across a range of organic molecules and proteins are compiled and analyzed, from single/few molecules to large molecular ensembles, and the influence of measurement methods on the results is considered. Generalizing, it is found that proteins conduct better than saturated molecules, and somewhat poorer than conjugated molecules. Significantly, the presence of cofactors (redox-active or conjugated) in the protein enhances their conduction, but without an obvious advantage for natural electron transfer proteins. Most likely, the conduction mechanisms are hopping (at higher temperatures) and tunneling (below ca. 150-200 K)., (© 2014 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.)

Semiconducting single walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) are promising materials for biosensing applications with electrolyte‐gated transistors (EGT). However, to be employed in EGT devices, SWCNTs often require lengthy solution‐processing fabrication techniques. Here, we introduce a simple solution‐based method that allows fabricating EGT devices from stable dispersions of SWCNTs/bovine serum albumin (BSA) hybrids in water. The dispersion is then deposited on a substrate allowing the formation of a SWCNTs random network as the semiconducting channel. We demonstrate that this methodology allows the fabrication of EGT devices with electric performances that allow their use in biosensing applications. We demonstrate their application for the detection of cortisol in solution, upon gate electrode functionalization with anti‐cortisol antibodies. This is a robust and cost‐effective methodology that sets the ground for a SWCNT/BSA‐based biosensing platform that allows overcoming many limitations of standard SWCNTs biosensor fabrications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is reported that spiropyran-a widely investigated molecular photoswitch-can be stabilized in aqueous environments in the presence of a variety of proteins, including human serum albumin, insulin fibrils, lysozyme, and glucose oxidase. The optical properties of the complexed photoswitch are protein dependent, with human serum albumin providing the spiropyran with emission features previously observed for a photoswitch confined in media of high viscosity. Despite being bound to the protein molecules, spiropyran can undergo a ring-opening reaction upon exposure to UV light. This photoisomerization process can affect the properties of the proteins: here, it is shown that the electrical conduction through human serum albumin to which the spiropyran is bound increases following the ring-opening reaction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Electrons can migrate via proteins over distances that are considered long for nonconjugated systems. The nanoscale dimensions of proteins and their enormous structural and chemical flexibility makes them fascinating subjects for exploring their electron transport (ETp) capacity. One particularly attractive direction is that of tuning their ETp efficiency by "doping" them with small molecules. Here we report that binding of retinoate (RA) to human serum albumin (HSA) increases the solid-state electronic conductance of a monolayer of the protein by >2 orders of magnitude for RA/HSA ≥ 3. Temperature-dependent ETp measurements show the following with increasing RA/HSA: (a) The temperature-independent current magnitude of the low-temperature (<190 K) regime increases significantly (>300-fold), suggesting a decrease in the distance-decay constant of the process. (b) The activation energy of the thermally activated regime (>190 K) decreases from 220 meV (RA/HSA = 0) to 70 meV (RA/HSA ≥ 3). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Review: 190 refs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]