(167f) Direct Biomineralizalization and Integration of Heterostructured Nanomaterials into Quantum Dot Sensitized Solar Cells

Functional nanomaterials are at the core of many innovations in renewable energy generation and catalysis. However, many of these materials are currently synthesized through high temperature, multi-step processes that utilize organic solvents and expensive precursors. These factors increase the complexity and economic and environmental costs of manufacturing scale-up. In contrast, biomineralization, the process by which biological systems produce structural nanomaterials, occurs under ambient conditions in aqueous media utilizing the available precursors. We have developed routes to adapt these biological processes to the direct and scalable, aqueous phase, controlled synthesis of a variety of functional nanoparticles; from core-shell metal chalcogenide quantum dots for solar harvesting to mixed metal oxide catalysts. Previous bioinspired synthesis routes typically utilize a biomolecule for templating of a chemical mineralization step, or lack tight control over size or composition of the particles. In contrast, our single enzyme approaches both template growth and catalyze mineralization to control size, composition and structure of the particles with function comparable to those synthesized by traditional chemical routes. In this talk, we will discuss this biomineralization process and routes towards integration of these particles in quantum dot sensitized solar cells.