Mimicking Primitive Photobacteria: Sustainable Hydrogen Evolution Based on Peptide-Porphyrin Co-Assemblies with a Self-Mineralized Reaction Center

Abstract

Molecular evolution, with self-organization of simple molecules towards complex functional systems, provides a new strategy for biomimetic architectonics and perspectives for understanding the complex processes of life. However, there remain many challenges to fabrication of systems comprising different types of units, which interact with one another to perform desired functions. Challenges arise from a lack of stability, dynamic properties, and functionalities that reconcile with a given environment. A co-assembling fiber system composed of simple peptide and porphyrin is presented. This material is considered a prebiotic assembly of molecules that can be rather stable and flexibly self-functionalized with the assistance of visible light in a "prebiotic soup"; acidic (pH 2), hot (70 °C), and mineral-containing (Na(+) , Ti(4+) , Pt(2+) , and so forth) water. The co-assembled peptide-porphyrin fiber, with self-mineralized reaction centers, may serve as a primitive photobacteria-like cellular model to achieve light harvesting, energy transfer, and ultimately sustainable hydrogen evolution.

Keywords: hydrogen evolution; peptides; porphyrins; primitive photosystems; self-organization.