Development of a biohybrid micellar system for solar hydrogen production

New system and design strategies must be pursued to develop materials for the production of solar fuels. Here, we report progress towards development of a biohybrid photoconversion system that incorporates elements of natural photosynthesis and synthetic molecules for hydrogen production. Light harvesting complex II (LHCII), a photosynthetic membrane protein, was isolated and purified from spinach. Amphiphilic electroactive poly(3-hexylthiophene) -b-poly(ethylene oxide) (P3HT-b-PEO) copolymers, either linear or branched, were synthesized using combined anionic and Kumada catalyst-transfer polymerizations. A three component micellar system that consists of LHCII stabilized in detergent solution, PEO-b-P3HT, a platinum catalyst, and sodium ascorbate as a sacrificial electron donor was used to characterize the kinetics of photocatalytic H2 production. The platinum catalyst was formed in situ by photodependent reduction of sodium tetrachloroplatinate. Our results will demonstrate how the kinetics of LHCII mediated H2 production are affected by the presence of various PEO-b-P3HT architectures, compared to LHCII alone.