Novel infrared spectroscopic techniques for the study of adsorbed proteins on photoactive thin films

Abstract

Through the development of attenuated total reflection (ATR) Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopic techniques, as well as biocompatible nanoporous gold film confining layers and photoactive nanocrystal cadmium telluride (CdTe) thin films, a system capable of in situ study of adsorbed protein films on photoactive layers was created. Due to the oxygen intolerance of the enzyme of interest for this work (a [FeFe]-hydrogenase from Clostridium acetobutylicum), techniques were developed in a manner conducive to anaerobic environments. Solid-state ligand exchange processes were shown to have no detrimental effect on the continued ability of nanocrystal CdTe layers to reduce species via the transfer of photogenerated electrons. Nanoporous gold films were shown to effectively confine poorly bound surface species including nanocrystal CdTe layers and adsorbed protein films. An ATR "stack'' structure, consisting of a silicon wafer coupled to a zinc selenide ATR crystal by a high index optical coupling fluid, was designed and implemented, leading to a tunable optical structure for use with existing ATR setups. This ATR stack was shown to maintain resolution and signal intensity of traditional ATR configurations for both aqueous and solid-state samples. Through the use of coupled silicon wafers, we significantly increased both sample throughput and the number of available chemical processes by replacing the expensive ATR crystals as the default sample substrate. Shown herein to function as initially intended, these novel methods provide the groundwork for more complex experiments, such as an in situ monitoring of the photooxidation of surface-bound hydrogenases.