Effects of Interfacial Interactions on Electrocatalytic Activity of Cytochrome Oxidase in Biomimetic Lipid Membranes on Gold Electrodes.

Effects of interfacial interactions on the electrocatalytic activity of protein-tethered bilayer lipid membranes (ptBLMs) containing cytochrome oxidase (CO) for the oxygen reduction reaction are studied by using protein film electrochemistry and surface-enhanced infrared absorption (SEIRA) spectroscopy. Mammalian CO was immobilized on a gold electrode via self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) of mixed alkanethiols. The protein orientation on the electrode is controlled by SAM-CO interactions and is critical to the cytochrome (cyt ) binding.

Materials design of Kitaev spin liquids beyond the Jackeli-Khaliullin mechanism.

The Kitaev spin liquid provides a rare example of well-established quantum spin liquids in more than one dimension. It is obtained as the exact ground state of the Kitaev spin model with bond-dependent anisotropic interactions. The peculiar interactions can be yielded by the synergy of spin-orbit coupling and electron correlations for specific electron configuration and lattice geometry, which is known as the Jackeli-Khaliullin mechanism.