Long-living and highly efficient bio-hybrid light-emitting diodes with zero-thermal-quenching biophosphors.

Bio-hybrid light-emitting diodes (Bio-HLEDs) based on color down-converting filters with fluorescent proteins (FPs) have achieved moderate efficiencies (50 lm/W) and stabilities (300 h) due to both thermal- and photo-degradation. Here, we present a significant enhancement in efficiency (~130 lm/W) and stability (>150 days) using a zero-thermal-quenching bio-phosphor design. This is achieved shielding the FP surface with a hydrophilic polymer allowing their homogenous integration into the network of a light-guiding and hydrophobic host polymer.

Single-Component Biohybrid Light-Emitting Diodes Using a White-Emitting Fused Protein.

This work presents a pioneering multidisciplinary approach toward enhancing biohybrid light-emitting diodes (BioHLEDs), merging synthetic biology tools, polymer chemistry, and device engineering to design a thin color down-converting coating with a single white-emitting fluorescent protein (WFP). In particular, the WFP consists of fused red-, green-, and blue-emitting FPs following the so-called protein superglue approach. This WFP shows an efficient and stable white emission originated from a Förster resonance energy transfer between FP moieties.