Large Photovoltages Generated by Plant Photosystem I Crystals

Abstract

Micrometer-thick plant photosystem I crystals made of up to 1000 layers of serially arranged protein complexes generate unprecedented high photovoltages when placed on a conducting solid surface and measured using Kelvin probe force microscopy. The successive layers form serially photoinduced dipoles in the crystal that give rise to electric fields as large as 100 kV cm−1.