Development of an Efficient Biosensitized Solar Cell Using Bacteriorhodopsin Producing Haloarchaeon Halobacterium Noricense

Solar cells offer a promising avenue for sustainable energy production. Solar cells leverage the photovoltaic effect in a P–N junction diode, converting light energy into electrical energy. Traditional dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) utilize titanium dioxide (TiO2), and toxic ruthenium-based dyes as a light-absorbing material. Biosensitized solar cells on the other hand make use of biochemical light-absorbing materials like bacteriorhodopsin (bR) protein that produce an effect similar to DSSCs but are more environmentally friendly. In the present work, this protein is extracted from a haloarchaeon Halobacterium noricense MITWPU HA6. The haloarchaeon was isolated and characterized for bR production correlating with the growth pattern. Maximum bR production was seen in the late log phase. The bacteriorhodopsin production was characterized by studying its voltage production after sunlight exposure which showed a total millivolt production of 64.8 mV.