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Article
Imprisoned Lightning: Charge Transport in Trehalose-Derived Sugar Glasses
Ionics
  • Louis R. Nemzer, Nova Southeastern University
  • Mahantesh S. Navati, Albert Einstein College of Medicine
  • Joel M. Friedman, Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Publication Date
8-1-2015
Keywords
  • Trehalose,
  • Glass relaxation,
  • Activation energy,
  • Grotthuss mechanism,
  • Proton conductors
Disciplines
Abstract

Trehalose is a naturally occurring disaccharide noted for its ability to preserve the biological function of proteins and cell membranes during periods of stress—such as water deprivation or extreme temperature—by stabilizing the conformations of the macromolecules within a glassy matrix. This phenomenon makes use of the propensity for trehalose to interact strongly with protein functional groups and solvent water molecules via hydrogen bonding. Previously, it has been shown that trehalose sugar glasses also support long-range charge transport in oxidation-reduction reactions occurring between spatially separated donors and acceptors. Here, through the use of bulk Arrhenius DC-conductivity measurements, we infer that this anomalously high carrier mobility is due to proton hopping along a hydrogen bonding network formed by sorbed “water wires,” a process known as the Grotthuss mechanism. Additionally, we find that the apparent activation energy of the conductivity depends non-monotonically on the bias voltage. The possibility is raised for novel photovoltaic devices based on the entrapment of photosynthetic proteins within these glasses.

Comments

© Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2015

DOI
10.1007/s11581-015-1410-6
Citation Information
Louis R. Nemzer, Mahantesh S. Navati and Joel M. Friedman. "Imprisoned Lightning: Charge Transport in Trehalose-Derived Sugar Glasses" Ionics Vol. 21 Iss. 8 (2015) p. 2211 - 2217 ISSN: 0947-7047
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/lnemzer/38/