Toward hybrid proteo-polymeric vesicles generating a photoinduced proton gradient for biofuel cells

We describe our efforts towards constructing a hybrid protein–polymer vesicle device based on the photoactive protein, bacteriorhodopsin (BR), for applications in the area of biosensors and biofuel cells. Successful protein incorporation into biomimetic polymer vesicles is a prerequisite for developing hybrid 'nano–bio' integrated devices. We suggest a systematic procedure for creating energy transducing, protein-incorporating, functional vesicles, based on the morphological ternary diagram. First, we constructed the morphological ternary diagram of the water/ethanol/polymer system with a size distribution of vesicles. The polymer used was an ABA triblock copolymer, PEtOz–PDMS–PEtOz [poly(2-ethyl-2-oxazoline)-b-poly(dimethylsiloxane)-b-poly(2-ethyl-2-oxazoline)]. Second, we incorporated BR in the form of purple membrane (PM) into polymer vesicle membranes under several different conditions, based on the morphological ternary diagram. Generation of electrochemical energy by BR proton pumping was checked by monitoring the pH change in parallel with transmission electron microscope analysis. The morphology of the polymer vesicles changed very little with the addition of PM. This work shows that the morphological ternary diagram provides a systematic method for constructing successful hybrid BR-incorporating biomimetic polymer vesicles.