Engineered Protein‐Based Ionic Conductors for Sustainable Energy Storage Applications
Abstract
Abstract Protein‐based biomaterials offer sustainable and biocompatible alternatives to traditional ionic conductors, essential for advancing green energy storage and bioelectronic applications. In this work, a robust, intrinsically self‐assembling repeat protein scaffold to enhance ionic conductivity through the selective incorporation of glutamic acids is engineered. These mutations increase the number of available protonation sites and promote the formation of well‐defined charge pathways. The self‐assembly properties of the system enable the propagation of molecular‐level modifications to the macroscopic scale, yielding self‐standing protein films with significantly improved ionic conductivity. Specifically, engineered protein‐based films exhibit an order of magnitude higher conductivity than their unmodified counterparts, with a further ten‐fold enhancement through controlled addition of salt ions. Mechanistic analysis shows that the conductivity enhancement originates from the intertwined contributions of proton transport, hydration, and ion diffusion, all promoted by engineered charged residues. Finally, films of the best‐performing variant are integrated, as both separator and electrolyte, into a supercapacitor device with competitive energy storage performance. These findings highlight the potential of rational protein design to create biocompatible, sustainable, and efficient ionic conductors with the stability and processability required to be successfully integrated into the next generation of energy storage and bioelectronic devices.
Article Details
Authors (15)
Juan David Cortés‐Ossa
BCMaterials Basque Center for Materials, Applications and Nanostructures UPV/EHU Science Park Leioa Vizcaya 48940 Spain
Paolo Blesio
Center for Cooperative Research in Biomaterials (CIC biomaGUNE) Basque Research and Technology Alliance (BRTA) Paseo de Miramón 194 Donostia‐San Sebastián 20014 Spain
Marcial Fernandez‐Castro
Centre for Cooperative Research on Alternative Energies (CIC EnergiGUNE) Basque Research and Technology Alliance (BRTA) Alava Technology Park, Albert Einstein 48 Vitoria‐Gasteiz 01510 Spain
Lisa Almonte
BCMaterials Basque Center for Materials, Applications and Nanostructures UPV/EHU Science Park Leioa Vizcaya 48940 Spain
Maxence Fernandez
Center for Cooperative Research in Biomaterials (CIC biomaGUNE) Basque Research and Technology Alliance (BRTA) Paseo de Miramón 194 Donostia‐San Sebastián 20014 Spain
Mantas Liutkus
Centre for Cooperative Research in Biomaterials (CIC biomaGUNE) Basque Research and Technology Alliance Paseo de Miramón 194 San Sebastian 20014 Spain
Perumal Pandurangan
Department of Materials Engineering, Ilse Katz Institute for Nanoscale Science and Technology, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev
Carlos Sabater
Instituto Universitario de Materiales de Alicante (IUMA) Universidad de Alicante Alicante 03690 Spain
Aitor Villaverde
Centre for Cooperative Research on Alternative Energies (CIC EnergiGUNE) Basque Research and Technology Alliance (BRTA) Alava Technology Park, Albert Einstein 48 Vitoria‐Gasteiz 01510 Spain
Manuel Melle‐Franco
Department of Chemistry, CICECO‐Aveiro Institute of Materials University of Aveiro Aveiro Portugal
Nurit Ashkenasy
Department of Materials Engineering, Ilse Katz Institute for Nanoscale Science and Technology, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev
Felipe Jiménez‐Ángeles
Department of Materials Science and Engineering Northwestern University Evanston Illinois 60208 USA
M. Carmen Morant‐Miñana
Centre for Cooperative Research on Alternative Energies (CIC EnergiGUNE) Basque Research and Technology Alliance (BRTA) Alava Technology Park, Albert Einstein 48 Vitoria‐Gasteiz 01510 Spain
M. Reyes Calvo
BCMaterials Basque Center for Materials, Applications and Nanostructures UPV/EHU Science Park Leioa Vizcaya 48940 Spain
Aitziber L. Cortajarena
Centre for Cooperative Research in Biomaterials (CIC biomaGUNE) Basque Research and Technology Alliance Paseo de Miramón 194 San Sebastian 20014 Spain