New article from Maye Research Group draws on nanoscience, self-assembly
Chemists in Syracuse University’s College of Arts and Sciences have made a transformational advance in an alternate lighting source—one that doesn’t require a battery or a plug.
Associate Professor Mathew Maye and a team of researchers from Syracuse, along with collaborators from Connecticut College, have recently demonstrated high-efficient energy transfer between semiconductor quantum rods and luciferase enzymes. Quantum rods and luciferase enzymes are nanomaterials and biomaterials, respectively. When combined correctly, these materials produce bioluminescence—except, instead of coming from a biomaterial, such as a firefly enzyme, the light eminates from a nanomaterial, and is green, orange, red, or near-infrared in color.
The findings are the subject of a recent article in ACS Nano (American Chemical Society, 2016).
“Think of our system as a design project,” Maye says. “Our goal has been to build a nano-biosystem that’s versatile enough to teach us a lot, while allowing us to overcome significant challenges in the field and have practical applications. The design involves materials from our chemistry and biology labs, as well as various nanoscience and self-assembly tools. It’s a true team effort with multiple collaborations.”
Maye illustrates his point by referencing quantum rods, each of which is four nanometers wide and 50 nanometers long. (A nanometer is 1 billionth of a meter.) “The rods were chemically synthesized with amazing precision,” he says. “To get the best information, we realized that we needed at least two different types of rods, each with three synthetically tuned variations, and up to 10 different assembly conditions.”
Having a wide range of variables has enabled Maye and his team to learn more about the science of nano-biology energy transfer.
Prior to becoming a postdoc at the University of Notre Dame, Rabeka Alam G’13 led the project at Syracuse as a Ph.D. student. She says this work illuminates a special kind of interaction known as bioluminescence resonance energy transfer (BRET). “In nanoscience, a quantum dot or rod is typically an energy donor,” she says. “In our case, the energy came from bioluminescent luciferase.”
With BRET, the enzyme is attached to the surface of the rod. Luciferin is added, and acts as a kind of fuel. When the enzyme and fuel interact, they release an energy that is transferred to the rod, causing it to glow.
“The trick to increasing the efficiency [of BRET] is finding the right donor-acceptor combination, which requires different rods and enzymes,” says Liliana Karam, a Syracuse Ph.D. student who currently heads up the project. “Thanks to our colleagues at Connecticut College, we have genetically manipulated enzymes of multiple colors that are attached to the rods, which, in turn, are prepared in our lab at Syracuse.”
Bruce Branchini, the Hans and Ella McCollum ’21 Vahlteich Professor of Chemistry at Connecticut College, collaborates on the project. His group provides Maye’s team with the luciferase enzymes.
Maye says the quantum rods are composed of semi-conductive elements—specifically, an outer shell of cadmium sulfide and an inner core of cadmium selenide. By manipulating the size and shape of the core, the length of the rod, and the way the enzymes are attached and packed onto the surface of the rod, researchers are able to alter the color and intensity of the light that is emitted, thus demonstrating the overall efficiency of the process.
Postodc Tennyson Doane, a senior member of the Maye Research Group, says one of the breakthroughs of the project involves a special type of rod known as a “rod-in-rod.” The group has been hypothesizing why this particular rod results in high-efficiency gains.
“When you have a rod-shaped core, the resulting fluorescence is polarized, meaning circular light comes in, and linearly polarized light comes out,” says Doane, adding that the shape of the material makes BRET more efficient. “We believe that, when aligned correctly with the luciferase-excited state, the rod experiences efficiency gains that otherwise are not witnessed in a self-assembled nanosystem. Controlling the enzyme location and bioluminescence polarization may, one day, lead to novel ‘light switches,” in which only certain enzymes around the quantum rod are able to interact via BRET.”
Maye calls this “using biology for non-biological applications.”
“Our nanorods are made of the same materials used in computer chips, solar panels, and LED [light-emitting diode] lights. At the moment, our system works best in the red to near-infrared range, which has longer wavelengths than visible light, and is invisible to the eye,” he says, alluding to night-vision goggles, medical imaging, and rapid microbial detection. “Our work is patent-pending at Syracuse. Perhaps, we’ll someday have firefly-covered nanorods that can be inserted into LED lights and don’t require a plug.”
Learn more: Chemists Combine Biology, Nanotechnology to Create Alternate Energy Source
The Latest on: Alternate energy source
[google_news title=”” keyword=”alternate energy source” num_posts=”10″ blurb_length=”0″ show_thumb=”left”]
via Google News
The Latest on: Alternate energy source
- Sue Lani Madsen: It’s rural, but is it clean energy?on May 17, 2024 at 12:18 am
Since passage of the Clean Energy Transformation Act in 2019, Gov. Jay Inslee has zeroed in on expediting building alternative energy sources. The regionwide implications for central and Eastern ...
- Alternative energy vital to Indiana's 'gold rush'on May 16, 2024 at 7:59 pm
Advanced energy technologies are today’s equivalent of those technologies. Building them in Indiana is both a challenge the state needs to tackle head on in order to benefit from the 21st century gold ...
- Education resource for truck fleets transitioning to new energy sourceson May 15, 2024 at 11:12 pm
The podcast covers the energy options for a mixed energy fleet of trucks and the reasons for and against change.
- Media Tip: New study shows renewable energy could work as power source at the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Stationon May 15, 2024 at 5:00 pm
A recent analysis shows that renewable energy could be a viable option to diesel fuel for science at the South Pole. The analysis deeply explores the feasibility of replacing part of the energy ...
- Clean Hydrogen: America’s Promising Next Fuel Source for a Resilient Energy Futureon May 15, 2024 at 10:19 am
POWER is at the forefront of the global power market, providing in-depth news and insight on the end-to-end electricity system and the ongoing energy transition. We strive to be the “go-to” resource ...
- Scientists discover easier, cleaner way to synthesize promising fuel alternative: 'Our new method should result in worldwide energy-saving'on May 13, 2024 at 9:00 pm
Researchers at RIKEN Center for Sustainable Resource Science in Japan have discovered a new way to synthesize ammonia while creating less pollution. The discovery could have big implications for ...
- Should Latin America Consider Nuclear Energy as an Alternative Source for its Power Grid?on May 12, 2024 at 9:25 am
Latin America is a region known for its rich natural resources, including abundant reserves of oil, gas, and hydropower. However, in recent years, these traditional sources of energy have faced challe ...
- Scientists convert chicken fat into energy storage deviceson May 10, 2024 at 11:47 am
The global move toward more sustainable, green energy has increased power reserves and the demand for energy storage devices. Unfortunately, some materials for these devices can be expensive and ...
- In Our View: Speed development of alternate energy sourceson May 9, 2024 at 6:03 am
The group’s most recent annual summary estimates that electricity demand in the Northwest — Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Montana — will increase 30 percent in the next decade. That represents a jump ...
- Kuwait considers using used tires as an energy source to curb pollutionon May 7, 2024 at 5:00 pm
government authorities are contemplating the utilization of used tires as an alternative energy source in industrial processes. This initiative aims to achieve a dual benefit by reducing industrial ...
via Bing News