Electronic control of H+ current in a bioprotonic device with carbon nanotube porins

• Published in: PloS one Vol. 14; no. 2; p. e0212197
• Main Authors: Hemmatian, Zahra, Tunuguntla, Ramya H, Noy, Aleksandr, Rolandi, Marco
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Public Library of Science 22.02.2019; Public Library of Science (PLoS)
• Subjects: Bioelectricity; Biology and Life Sciences; Biotechnology; Carbon; Carbon nanotubes; Cell membranes; Chemistry; Computer engineering; CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND SUPERFLUIDITY; Contact potentials; Current carriers; Electronic control; Electronics; Electrons; Engineering and Technology; Fluxes; Hydrogen; Ion channels; Laboratories; Life sciences; Lipid bilayers; Lipid Bilayers - chemistry; Lipids; Nanotechnology; Nanotubes; Nanotubes - chemistry; Nanowires; Physical Sciences; Physics; Physiology; Porins; Porins - chemistry; Proteins; Protons; Transistors; United States > US; California
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0212197

Hybrid biotic abiotic devices can be used to interface electronics with biological systems for novel therapies or to increase device functionality beyond silicon. Many strategies exist to merge the electronic and biological worlds, one dominated by electrons and holes as charge carriers, the other by ions. In the biological world, lipid bilayers and ion channels are essential to compartmentalize the cell machinery and regulate ionic fluxes across the cell membrane. Here, we demonstrate a bioelectronic device in which a lipid bilayer supported on H+-conducting Pd/PdHx contacts contains carbon nanotubes porin (CNTP) channels. This bioelectronic device uses CNTPs to control of H+ flow across the lipid bilayer with a voltage applied to the Pd/PdHx contacts. Potential applications of these devices include local pH sensing and control.