Team:FAU Erlangen

iGEM Erlangen

Coli-Voltaic



Abstract

As renewable, but ecologically and biologically unobjectionable energy becomes more and more important, we decided to prepare semiconducting biofilms for solar cell applications. Curli fibers constitute the key element serving as scaffold for the growth and stabilization of ZnO/TiO2 nanoparticles along these wires. We worked on optimization of the structure and thickness of the hybrid layers. To this initial system, absorbing molecules such as organic dyes and fluorescent proteins are applied to expand the spectral range. The result of our research may pave the way to a novel class of solar panels mainly fabricated by living cells, which can lower the overall costs.

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