“Utilizing Toray Paper as a Metal-Free, High Surface Area Electrode for Photosystem I-Driven Mediated Electron Transfer” published in Energy Technology, selected as VINSE Spotlight Publication
Christopher Stachurski is a 2021 PhD graduate from the Department of Chemistry under the direction of Drs. David Cliffel and Kane Jennings. He is current an Assistant Research Professor at the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, MD working with Drs. Paul Trulove and David Durkin on using ionic liquids to modify biopolymers such as cotton and silk into functional materials for fields ranging from catalysis to environmental decontamination. While at Vanderbilt, his research focused on biohybrid solar cells centered on the Photosystem I protein complex for renewable energy generation. In this recent publication, co-authored with fellow PhD graduate LTC John Williams, REU student Pamela Tabaquin, and Vanderbilt chemistry major Elisabeth Wood, he explored the use of commercially available carbon paper as an electrode material for the assembly of biohybrid photoelectrochemical cells. By coupling the all-carbon material with in vitro PSI entrapment methods such as electropolymerization, robust, scalable electrodes were fabricated. This research demonstrates the capacity for PSI-based devices to embody the theme of “biohybrid” by transitioning from traditional metal and semiconductor electrodes to all-carbon composites.