(484b) From Energy Harvesting to Living Plants - Concepts in Biosensing and Energy Conversion Using Carbon Nanomaterials

Our lab at MIT has been interested in how the 1D and 2D electronic structures of carbon nanotubes and graphene respectively can be utilized to advance new concepts in molecular detection, as well as energy generation. By taking advantage of the exceptional electronic properties of these nano-structures, we continue to discover potential application spaces where carbon can play an important role. For example, we have pioneered a novel technique called Corona Phase Molecular Recognition, or CoPhMoRe, for discovering synthetic, heteropolymer corona phases that form molecular recognition sites at the nanoparticle interface. By screening libraries of synthetic heteropolymers chemically adsorbed onto single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNT), we have engineered new optical biosensors that exhibit high selective recognition for bio molecules, such as riboflavin, L-thyroxine, dopamine, nitric oxide, sugar alcohols, estradiol, and fibrinogen. These results have significant potential for using SWNT-based sensors to interface to biological systems, allowing monitoring pathways at the sub-cellular, cellular, tissue, and whole-animal scale. I will also highlight our recent efforts in initiating an endeavor we call “Plant Nanobionics”. There we use techniques to deliver and transport functional nanoparticles into living plants to grant them non-native functions. Our goal is to engineer plants to take over many of the functions now performed by electrical devices. I will introduce the nanoparticle co-localization mechanism in a plant, and highlight some of our recent nanobionic plant prototypes including a light-emitting plant. Lastly, I will briefly describe several applications of carbon nanomaterials in the energy space that have come out of our lab. There is a pressing need to find alternatives to conventional energy generation techniques, specifically those that rely on elements in finite global supply. We introduce Asymmetric Doping Cells (ADC), which convert chemical potential to electrical energy by means of spatially selective doping along a nanostructured conduit or particle. These ADCs have applications to energy harvesting from aqueous and organic solvents, as well as electro-catalysis for chemical synthesis. An inverse length-scaling of the maximum power as L^−1.03 that creates specific powers as large as 30.0 kW kg^−1 highlights the potential for microscale energy generation. We also introduce carbon materials for what we call thermal resonators that make use of thermal storage elements with high effusivity – the product of the thermal conductivity and heat capacity to the one half power. Thermal resonators base on carbon can harvest energy indefinitely from ambient thermal fluctuations of various frequencies, opening new possibilities for remote applications.