Advanced 2D and 3D material design for operando techniques of bioelectrocatalysis

• Applicant: Professorin Dr. Anna Fischer
• Subject Area: Solid State and Surface Chemistry, Material Synthesis ; Biochemistry ; Biological and Biomimetic Chemistry ; Physical Chemistry of Solids and Surfaces, Material Characterisation ; Physical Chemistry of Molecules, Liquids and Interfaces, Biophysical Chemistry
• Term: since 2024
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 545505987

Enzymatic electrocatalysis is regarded as an eco-friendly process for various applications in the field of electrochemical energy conversion as well as environmental and medical sensing. Thanks to advanced 2D and 3D electrode design, ranging from planar, over array to 3D porous transparent conducting oxide (TCO) thin film electrodes and coupling with selected operando methods, the MatOpeBioCat project will address three main fundamental scientific questions that remain to fully understand and control enzymatic bioelectrocatalysis and accelerate the development of hybrid enzymatic electrochemical devices. A multiscale approach will be used with various characterization methods coupled to electrochemistry (named e-methods) to answer the following questions: 1) How is the enzymatic activity related to enzyme loading and enzyme conformation/orientation at the electrode? Operando e-ATR-IR and e-QCM will be performed on 2D thin film electrodes with surface roughness lower than the dimension of the enzymes as tools to characterize the enzyme electrode material interaction and determine the molecular basis for functional enzyme immobilization. 2) What is the effect of surface crowding and spatial distribution of the enzymes on the electrocatalysis? A progressive approach from 2D planar electrodes, over 2D patterned electrodes, to 3D porous ones in combination with operando methods (e-ATR-IR, e-SPR, e-fluorescence microscopy (e-FM) and FRET) will be followed to investigate these effects. 3) How does the local enzyme environment affect the activity in 3D porous materials designed to maximize catalytic current densities? E-confocal laser scanning FM will be applied for that purpose. The rationalized and optimized bioelectrocatalysis obtained on the designed TCO interfaces/electrodes will be transferred to TCO coated 3D porous carbon macrostructures to achieve maximized electroactive areal enzyme loading (with respect to the geometrical electrode footprint), overcome mass-transport limitations and achieve high and stable current densities. The strength of the MatOpeBioCat project lies in the complementary expertise of the German-French consortium in i) advanced nanostructured material /electrode design (German partner UF) to provide efficient platforms for enzyme immobilization, ii) production and characterization of enzymes exhibiting outstanding properties, valuable as catalysts in bioelectrochemical devices (fuel cells, electrolyzers, sensors) (French partner BIP). Both partners will develop specific methodologies allowing tailored material development and operando analysis of enzyme immobilization and bioelectrocatalysis at global and local scales. This complementary consortium will allow a back-and-forth iterative optimization process between various biointerfaces, to ultimately determine the key factors related to electrode, enzyme, and electrode/enzyme interface and environment design governing bioelectrocatalysis at all scales.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• International Connection: France
• Partner Organisation: Agence Nationale de la Recherche / The French National Research Agency
• Cooperation Partner: Dr. Elisabeth Lojou