PRiNGLE builds on the very recent discovery in biology of what are called cable bacteria that can transmit high electrical currents over centimeter long distances. The marine bacteria produce self-assembling, long, high conductivity proteins (HCP) of exceptional electronic properties not previously seen in biological materials. Based on these microbially-derived HCP fibers, a novel class of exclusively protein-based electronic materials, PROTEONICS, with suitable conductive, semi-conductive and insulating properties for electronics, can be initiated. These materials will have radically different properties (biocompatibility, biodegradability, biofunctionalization) than materials currently used in electronics. PRiNGLE aims to unlock the technological potential of this unique material, thus kickstarting PROTEONICS into a new innovative electronic technology. To demonstrate this, we will construct - for the first time - an electronic circuit that is exclusively protein-based. For this, PRiNGLE aims to realize a challenging science-towards-technology breakthrough: we need to take the conductive fibers “out of the natural bacteria” and turn them into an electronic base material. To this end, we need to demonstrate that (i) we can produce HCP fibers under controlled in vitro conditions, (ii) keep their electronic functionality, and (iii) show that they can be patterned and processed into electronic components.
PRiNGLE will provide the fundamental and technological basis for PROTEONICS by addressing the following objectives: (1) achieving HCP fiber self-assembly under controlled in vitro conditions, thus allowing scalable recombinant production of conductive protein fibers in “microbial factories”, (2) by demonstrating that HCP fibers form a performant electronic base material, ensuring that electronic properties remain stable under relevant application conditions (e.g. atmospheric stability of conduction), (3) by developing fabrication and patterning technologies to produce electronic components from HCP fibers, and (4) by showing that the electronic properties of HCP can be tuned in a fit-for-purpose manner through genetic engineering, thus obtaining a new class of electronic materials with functionality that is hitherto unavailable. As proof-of-concept, we will (5) develop the first ever PROTEONICS circuit in which all electronic components are protein-based (wires, inductors, resistors, insulators, capacitors, transistors). This way, PRiNGLE will provide a convincing proof-of-concept for a fully biobased, CO2-neutral electronic technology where custom-crafted protein structures act as elementary active and passive components in a new generation of biocompatible and biodegradable electronic devices.
To reach the PRiNGLE objectives, we need to address a challenging technological development at the interface of biology and electronics. The project combines unique and highly interdisciplinary research in biology (microbiology, structural biology), chemistry (protein biochemistry, electrochemistry), physics (electronic properties, quantum char.ge transport models) and engineering (organic electronics, electronic component development and characterization). Tight integration between these disciplines is clear from the combination of experimental approaches with theory development and modelling, the range of scales studied (from single molecules to macroscale components), and the integration of fundamental, applied and translational research.
