Direct electrochemistry for studying the catalytic mechanism of hydrogenase enzymes and for using them in fuel cells Seminar

Electrochemistry has proved very useful for learning about the molecular mechanism of various large and complex redox enzymes. In the configuration called "direct electrochemistry", the enzyme is adsorbed onto a rotating electrode, electron transfer between the enzyme and the electrode is direct, and turnover rate is simply monitored as a current. Fuel cells or photoelectrochemical cells relying on direct electron transfer between electrodes and enzymes have been designed. In my group, we use electrochemistry to study the molecular mechanism of redox enzymes, and we have shown that electrochemical data can be used to gain information about virtually every step in the catalytic cycle: active site chemistry, redox-driven (in)activation, intra-molecular mass transport along channels that guide the diffusion of small molecules within the enzyme, long-range intramolecular electron transfer etc. In this talk, I will focus on hydrogenases, the enzymes that oxidize or produce H2 and I will illustrate the applications of direct electrochemistry. I will also present briefly a free, in-house, data-analysis software which we plan to release soon.

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