Photoelectric performance of bacteria photosynthetic proteins entrapped on tailored mesoporous WO3-TiO2 films

Novel three-dimensional wormlike mesoporous WO3-TiO2 films with tailored pore size (similar to 7.1 nm) were applied to prepare the bio-photoelectrodes (Bio-PEs) through direct entrapping the bacteria photosynthetic reaction center (RC) proteins. These mesoporous WO3-TiO2 films exhibited unique characteristics in the specific loading of RC with high activity retained. Moreover, well-matched energy levels of WO3-TiO2 and RC contributed to the photoelectric performance, especially in the red to near-infrared (NIR) region, of the derived Bio-PEs. Such strategy of manipulating the Bio-PEs based on well-designed mesoporous metal oxides and RC provides an alternative system to probe the photoinduced multiple-pathway electron transfer of photosensitive chromophores, which may open a new perspective to develop versatile bio-photoelectric devices.