Method for preparing solid materials comprising immobilized proteorhodopsin

A method for preparing a polyvinyl alcohol material containing immobilized proteorhodopsin, comprising the steps of:

• mixing polyvinyl alcohol, a buffer having pH between 3-12, and proteorhodopsin to form a solution;
• dispersing the solution on a solid form;
• and
• drying the solution to form a material containing immobilized proteorhodopsin.

A method for preparing a polyacrylamide material containing immobilized proteorhodopsin, comprising the steps of:

• mixing acrylamide, bisacrylamide, membrane-free proteorhodopsin, and one or more polymerization initiators or a UV-induced polymerization agent in a buffer having pH between 3-12;
• and
• polymerizing the acrylamide gel;
• whereby the proteorhodopsin is immobilized within the polyacrylamide gel matrix.

A method for preparing a sol-gel containing immobilized proteorhodopsin, comprising the steps of:

• (a) adding to a silane precursor an acidic solution having pH 1.5-4 to hydrolyze the silane precursor to form silicate sol;
• (b) adding to the silicate sol an aqueous solution containing proteorhodopsin at pH about 5-9;
• and
• (c) incubating (b) to form gel;
• whereby the proteorhodopsin is immobilized within the sol gel matrix.

A method for preparing gelatin containing immobilized proteorhodopsin, comprising the steps of:

• (a) heating and dissolving gelatin in water or a buffer to form a homogeneous aqueous gelatin solution;
• (b) cooling the gelatin solution to about 39-45° C.;
• and
• (c) mixing the cooled gelatin solution with proteorhodopsin;
• and
• (d) incubating (c) to form gel;
• whereby the proteorhodopsin is immobilized within the gelatin gel matrix