Design and construction of artificial photoresponsive protocells capable of converting day light to chemical energy

Abstract

We present a new strategy for the design and construction of artificial photoresponsive protocells based on the encapsulation and activation of metallized peptide/porphyrin self-assembled nanofilaments within silica nanoparticle-stabilized colloidosomes. The protocells exhibit high light sensitivity and can utilise day light (700 lux) for the production of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NADH) by photo-mediated reduction of NAD⁺ within the colloidosomes. The results provide a promising step towards artificial photosynthetic micro-compartmentalized devices with integrated functional structures and photoresponsive behaviour.