Integrating <i>Vibrio natriegens</i> for Photon Manipulation in Living Lighting Devices

Abstract

ABSTRACT Photon manipulation with bacteria is an emerging field in photonics (lasers, bio‐imaging, and cell‐sensing) and optoelectronics (bacterial‐hybrid light‐emitting diodes (BaHLEDs) and photovoltaics). In BaHLEDs, living photon down‐conversion filters based on the direct use of bacteria in optically desirable hydrophobic and/or waterless coatings have not been realized yet. Herein, we put forward a simple concept: the engineering of fluorescent Vibrio natriegens ( V. natriegens ) that enable easy‐to‐prepare, untreated bacteria‐silicone filters for the first red‐emitting BaHLEDs. More specifically, we have rationalized genetic and material engineering tools to optimize i) the protein production time with a 1.7‐fold enhanced volumetric productivity compared to E. coli with the same spectroscopic quality for the fluorescent protein (FP) DsRed, ii) the straightforward fabrication of highly emissive and stable V. natriegens ‐silicones, and iii) device reproducibility and performance to reach competitive devices with stabilities ranging from a few days up to weeks depending on device working conditions and architectures. Overall, this work sets in bacterial photon down‐conversion using V. natriegens directly as a viable and more straightforward concept toward further advances in living lighting applications.