Vibrational spectroscopic techniques for probing bioelectrochemical systems

Abstract

A more complete understanding of bioelectrochemical interfaces is of increasing importance in both fundamental studies and biotechnological applications of proteins. Bioelectrochemical methods provide detailed information about the activity or rate of a process, but in situ spectroscopic methods are needed to gain direct structural insight into functionally relevant states. A number of methods have been reported that allow electrochemical and spectroscopic data to be collected from the same electrode, providing direct spectroscopic ‘snapshots’ of protein function, and here we focus on the application of infrared and Raman spectroscopies to the study of electrode-immobilised species. The ability to probe coordination at metal centres, protonation changes in amino acid side chains, reaction-induced changes in organic cofactors or substrates, protein orientation and subtle changes in protein secondary structure simultaneously, rapidly and at room temperature means that vibrational spectroscopic approaches are almost uniquely applicable to answering a wide range of questions in bioelectrochemistry.