Electron Hopping Across Hemin-Doped Serum Albumin Mats on Centimeter-Length Scales

Exploring long-range electron transport across protein assemblies is a central interest in both the fundamental research of biological processes and the emerging field of bioelectronics. This work examines the use of serum-albumin-based freestanding mats as macroscopic electron mediators in bioelectronic devices. In particular, this study focuses on how doping the protein mat with hemin improves charge-transport. It is demonstrated that doping can increase conductivity 40-fold via electron hopping between adjacent hemin molecules, resulting in the highest measured conductance for a protein-based material yet reported, and transport over centimeter length scales. The use of distance-dependent AC impedance and DC current-voltage measurements allows the contribution from electron hopping between adjacent hemin molecules to be isolated. Because the hemin-doped serum albumin mats have both biocompatibility and fabrication simplicity, they should be applicable to a range of bioelectronic devices of varying sizes, configurations, and applications.