PNNL

Abstract

Electrochemical scanning tunneling microscopy (EC-STM) was used to assess the distance dependence of electron tunneling facilitated by a bacterial multiheme cytochrome to a single crystal iron oxide surface. We measured tunneling current-distance (I-s) profiles across the nanoscale space between insulated Au STM tips and the basal (001) surface of a hematite (?-Fe2O3) crystal, and compared them to the case in which an intervening small tetraheme cytochrome (STC) from Shewanella oneidensis covalently linked to the Au tip surface. Tunneling profiles were collected at constant surface potentials in solutions having a range of ionic strengths. At short tip-sample separation, the distance dependece of the tunneling current shows a quasi-linear behavior. At longer distances it shows an exponential decay. The different regions are discussed in terms of ordering of interfacial water and ion layers in the electrical double layer associated with the hematite surface. The effective tunneling range and its rate of decay are substantially increased when STC is present in the tunneling junction, suggesting that cytochrome molecules provide enhanced tunneling pathways and stronger electronic coupling to the hematite surface. Based on these results, cytochrome-mediated electron transfer during bacterial metal reduction may be possible at distances further than originally thought. Also, as multiheme cytochromes and other similar molecules gain attention for their promising role in fuel cells and molecular electronics, we show that the solution conditions and surface properties of the substrate must be carefully considered.