Biomemitic Catalysts for Water Splitting

• Develop a catalyst based on the oxygen evolving apparatus of photosystem II
• Design Mn binding peptides
• Make many specific variations
• Each element in the array can be individually probed for electrochemical activity
• Current voltage measurements can be performed
• this allows electrochemical assays in array format

Initial Mn-binding Peptides	Branched Peptides
Have now synthesized branched peptides with multiple Mn

Comparison of Electrolysis Currents

In terms of effiency, one can see that it is possible with peptide 2 to get the same current (same rate of hydrogen production) at 2.7 V that would require 3.0 V with the control peptide. This is a 10% power reduction in that voltage range.

MALDI Analysis of Products

We synthesized a peptide on the array more complex than polyglycine and performed MALDI mass spectroscopy. The calculated stepwise yield is 70%

Array Technology Summary
Array-Based Molecular Diversity and Screening

• Because sequences are known, computational modeling can be used
• Selection can occur in any solvent or condition
• Each variant can be individually tested
• Completely synthetic, so any amide-linked chemistry can be used
• Can create and test potential catalysts right on electrode arrays

For more information, please, contact professor Neal Woodbury