Ahmed Shahid

Graduation Semester and Year

2011

Language

English

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science in Biomedical Engineering

Department

Bioengineering

First Advisor

Hanli Liu

Abstract

Plants and photosynthetic bacteria hold protein molecular complexes that can efficiently harvest photons. This paper presents fundamental studies to harness photochemical activities by converting photonic energy into electrical energy. The electrical behavior of protoplast extracted from Arabidopsis plants was characterized in the presence and absence of light. The photo-induced reactions of photosynthesis were measured using a patch clamp measurement system at a constant voltage. This research also reports the absorbance and optical density measurements showing very large bandwidth for extracted protoplasts. The optical measurements were performed on the protoplast Arabidopsis and showed absorption bands at a number of wavelengths. The analysis of the optical data measurements shows that molecular proteins obtained from photosynthetic cells overcome the limitation of traditional organic solar cells that cannot absorb light in the visible-NIR spectrum. The current-voltage measurements done on protoplast extracts showed two orders of magnitude change when exposed to light. The demonstration of electrical power scavenging from the protoplast of the plant can open avenues for bio-inspired and bio-derived power with better quantum electrical efficiency.

Disciplines

Biomedical Engineering and Bioengineering | Engineering

Comments

Degree granted by The University of Texas at Arlington

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