Fabrication of bioanode by using electrically conducting polythiophene via entrapment technique

Wearable biofuel cells based on the classification of enzyme for high power outputs and lifetimes

Wearable enzymatic biofuel cells would be the most prospective fuel cells for wearable devices because of their low cost, compactness and flexibility. As the high specificity and catalytic properties of enzymes, enzymatic biofuel cells (EBFCs) catalyze the fuel associated with the redox reaction and get electrical energy. Available biofuels such as glucose, lactate and pyruvate can be harvested from biofluids of sweat, tears and blood, which afford cells a favorable use in implantable and wearable devices. However, the development of wearable enzymatic biofuel cells requires significant improvements on the power density and enzymes lifetime. In this paper, some new advances in improving the performance of wearable enzymatic biofuel cells are reviewed based on the bioanode and biocathode by classifying single-enzyme and multi-enzyme catalysis system. Thereinto, the bioanode usually contains oxidases and dehydrogenases as catalyst, and the biocathode utilizes the catalysis of multi-copper oxidases (MCOs) in the single system. For further enhancing the power density, efforts to develop multi-enzyme catalysis strategies are discussed in bioanode and biocathode respectively. Moreover, some potential technologies in recent years, such as carbon nanodots, CNT sponges and mixed operational/storage electrode are summarized owing to notable efficiency and the capability of enhancing electron transfer on the electrode. Finally, major challenges and future prospects are discussed for the high power output, stable and practical wearable enzymatic biofuel cells.

Co-immobilization of glucose oxidase and catalase for enhancing the performance of a membraneless glucose biofuel cell operated under physiological conditions

Glucose oxidase (GOx)-catalase co-immobilized catalyst (CNT/PEI/(GOx-Cat)) was synthesized, and its catalytic activity and electrical performance were investigated and compared, whereas the amount of immobilized catalase was optochemically inspected by chemiluminescence (CL) assay. With the characterizations, it was confirmed that the catalase was well immobilized on the CNT/PEI surface, whereas both the GOx and catalase play their roles well in the catalyst. According to the measurements of the current density peak of the flavin adenine dinucleotide (FAD) redox reaction, electron transfer rate, Michaelis-Menten constants and sensitivity, CNT/PEI/(GOx-Cat) shows the best values, and this is attributed to the excellent catalytic activity of GOx and the H₂O₂ decomposition capability of the catalase. To evaluate the electrical performance, a membraneless glucose biofuel cell (GBFC) adopting the catalyst was operated under physiological conditions and produced a maximum power density (MPD) of 180.8 ± 22.3 μW cm^-2, which is the highest value compared to MPDs obtained by adoption of other catalysts. With such results, it was clarified that the CNT/PEI/(GOx-Cat) manufactured by co-immobilization of GOx and catalase leads to enhancements in the catalytic activity and GBFC performance due to the synergetic effects of (i) effective removal of harmful H₂O₂ moiety by catalase and (ii) superior activation of desirable reactions by GOx.

Electrochemical studies of biocatalytic anode of sulfonated graphene/ferritin/glucose oxidase layer-by-layer biocomposite films for mediated electron transfer

In this study, a bioanode was developed by using layer-by-layer (LBL) assembly of sulfonated graphene (SG)/ferritin (Frt)/glucose oxidase (GOx). The SG/Frt biocomposite was used as an electron transfer elevator and mediator, respectively. Glucose oxidase (GOx) from Aspergillus niger was applied as a glucose oxidation biocatalyst. The electrocatalytic oxidation of glucose using GOx modified electrode increases with an increase in the concentration of glucose in the range of 10-50mM. The electrochemical measurements of the electrode was carried out by using cyclic voltammetry (CV) at different scan rates (20-100mVs(-1)) in 30mM of glucose solution prepared in 0.3M potassium ferrocyanide (K4Fe(CN)6) and linear sweep voltammetry (LSV). A saturation current density of 50±2mAcm(-2) at a scan rate of 100mVs(-1) for the oxidation of 30Mm glucose is achieved.