Protein bioelectronics: a review of what we do and do not know

Abstract

We review the status of protein-based molecular electronics. First we discuss fundamental concepts of electron transfer and transport in and across proteins and proposed mechanisms for these processes. We then describe the immobilization of proteins to solid-state surfaces in both nanoscale and macroscopic approaches, and highlight how different methodologies can alter protein electronic properties. Because immobilizing proteins while retaining biological activity is crucial to the successful development of bioelectronic devices, we discuss this process at length. We briefly discuss computational predictions and their link to experimental results. We then summarize how the biological activity of immobilized proteins is beneficial for bioelectronics devices, and how conductance measurements can shed light on protein properties. Finally, we consider how the research to date could influence the development of future bioelectronics devices.

155 pages, 38 figures

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Cited by in corpus (12)

• Spin-Dependent Momentum Conservation of Electron-Phonon Scattering in Chirality-Induced Spin Selectivity
• Interface-Induced Conservation of Momentum Leads to Chiral-Induced Spin Selectivity
• Topological phase transitions of Thouless charge pumping realized in helical organic molecules with long-range hoppings
• Anomalous transport of small polarons arises from transient lattice relaxation or immovable boundaries
• Mono-exponential Current Attenuation with Distance across 16 nm Thick Bacteriorhodopsin Multilayers
• Mind the Gap: From Resolving Theoretical Foundations of Chiral(ity)-Induced Spin Selectivity to Pioneering Implementations in Quantum Sensing
• Fabrication of electronically conductive protein-heme nanowires for power harvesting
• Fractional electron transfer kinetics and a quantum breaking of ergodicity
• Placement of Biological Membrane Patches in a Nanofluidic Gap with Control over Position and Orientation
• Off-resonant coherent electron transport over three nanometers in multi-heme protein bioelectronic junctions
• Holographic nature of critical quantum states of proteins
• Current rectification via Photosystem I monolayers induced by their orientation on hydrophilic self-assembled monolayers on titanium nitride