Spin selective electron transport between semiconductors and cytochrome C

• Grant number: 19/22092-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Doctorate (Direct)
• Start date: March 05, 2022
• End date: June 20, 2022
• Field of knowledge: Physical Sciences and Mathematics - Physics - Condensed Matter Physics
• Principal Investigator: Iseli Lourenço Nantes Cardoso
• Grantee: Julia Delatorre Bronzato
• Supervisor: Ron Naaman
• Host Institution: Centro de Ciências Naturais e Humanas (CCNH). Universidade Federal do ABC (UFABC). Santo André , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel
• Associated to the scholarship: 19/01425-1 - Synthesis and interaction of metal oxide nanostructures and topological insulating materials with biomolecules, BP.DD

Abstract

The present project proposes to investigate the CISS (Chiral Induced Spin Selectivity) effect of the heme protein, cytochrome c, in the electron transport of semiconductors devices. Cytochrome c Fe(III) is photo-reduced by semiconductors such as hematite, zinc oxide, and titania materials. Also, electrochemical studies showed that cytochrome c provided an extremely high spin selectivity of the reduction of a Ni electrode coated with a 10 nm thin layer of gold. In this condition, the reduction occurred preferentially with electrons having their spin-aligned antiparallel to their velocity. In the present project, we propose to investigate the CISS effect of cytochrome in photo-reduction and electrochemical studies using hematite and titania materials. The influence of gold nanoparticles and a thin gold layer on the material surfaces in the redox processes between cytochrome c and semiconductors will also be investigated. The role of cytochrome c alpha-helix content in CISS effect will be investigated by comparison with its trypsin-digested product, microperoxidase-11. The role of heme iron sphere coordination will be investigated using cytochrome c oxidized by singlet molecular oxygen and its nitrosylated form. These studies contribute to advances in bioelectronic and energy. (AU)