Biofuel cells for biomedical applications : colonizing the animal kingdom

A review. Interdisciplinary research has combined the efforts of many scientists and engineers to gain an understanding of biotic and abiotic electrochem. processes, materials properties, biomedical, and engineering approaches for the development of alternative power-​generating and​/or energy-​harvesting devices, aiming to solve health-​related issues and to improve the quality of human life. This review intends to recapitulate the principles of biofuel cell development and the progress over the years, thanks to the contribution of cross-​disciplinary researchers that have combined knowledge and innovative ideas to the field. The emergence of biofuel cells, as a response to the demand of elec. power devices that can operate under physiol. conditions, are reviewed. Implantable biofuel cells operating inside living organisms have been envisioned for over fifty years, but few reports of implanted devices have existed up until very recently. The very first report of an implanted biofuel cell (implanted in a grape) was published only in 2003 by Adam Heller and his coworkers. This work was a result of earlier scientific efforts of this group to "wire" enzymes to the electrode surface. The last couple of years have, however, seen a multitude of biofuel cells being implanted and operating in different living organisms, including mammals. Herein, the evolution of the biofuel concept, the understanding and employment of catalyst and biocatalyst processes to mimic biol. processes, are explored. These potentially green technol. biodevices are designed to be applied for biomedical applications to power nano- and microelectronic devices, drug delivery systems, biosensors, and many more

Double-Chamber Microbial Fuel Cell with a Non-Platinum-Group Metal Fe-N-C Cathode Catalyst

© 2015 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim. Non-Pt-group metal (non-PGM) materials based on transition metal-nitrogen-carbon (M-N-C) and derived from iron salt and aminoantipyrine (Fe-AAPyr) of mebendazole (Fe-MBZ) were studied for the first time as cathode catalysts in double-chamber microbial fuel cells (DCMFCs). The pH value of the cathode chamber was varied from 6 to 11 to elucidate the activity of those catalysts in acidic to basic conditions. The Fe-AAPyr- and Fe-MBZ-based cathodes were compared to a Pt-based cathode used as a baseline. Pt cathodes performed better at pH 6-7.5 and had similar performances at pH 9 and a substantially lower performance at pH 11 at which Fe-AAPyr and Fe-MBZ demonstrated their best electrocatalytic activity. The power density achieved with Pt constantly decreased from 94-99 μW cm-2 at pH 6 to 55-57 μW cm-2 at pH 11. In contrast, the power densities of DCMFs using Fe-AAPyr and Fe-MBZ were 61-68 μW cm-2 at pH 6, decreased to 51-58 μW cm-2 at pH 7.5, increased to 65-75 μW cm-2 at pH 9, and the highest power density was achieved at pH 11 (68-80 μW cm-2). Non-PGM cathode catalysts can be manufactured at the fraction of the cost of the Pt-based ones. The higher performance and lower cost indicates that non-PGM catalysts may be a viable materials choice in large-scale microbial fuel cells

Toward Improved Alkaline Membrane Fuel Cell Performance Using Quaternized Aryl-Ether Free Polyaromatics

Toward Improved Alkaline Membrane Fuel Cell Performance Using Quaternized Aryl-Ether Free Polyaromatic

Self-feeding paper based biofuel cell/self-powered hybrid μ-supercapacitor integrated system

© 2016 Elsevier B.V. For the first time, a paper based enzymatic fuel cell is used as self-recharged supercapacitor. In this supercapacitive enzymatic fuel cell (SC-EFC), the supercapacitive features of the electrodes are exploited to demonstrate high power output under pulse operation. Glucose dehydrogenase-based anode and bilirubin oxidase-based cathode were assembled to a quasi-2D capillary-driven microfluidic system. Capillary flow guarantees the continuous supply of glucose, cofactor and electrolytes to the anodic enzyme and the gas-diffusional cathode design provides the passive supply of oxygen to the catalytic layer of the electrode. The paper-based cell was self-recharged under rest and discharged by high current pulses up to 4mAcm−2. The supercapacitive behavior and low equivalent series resistance of the cell permitted to achieve up to a maximum power of 0.87mWcm−2 (10.6mW) for pulses of 0.01s at 4mAcm−2. This operation mode allowed the system to achieve at least one order of magnitude higher current/power generation compared to the steady state operation

Graphene Oxides Used as a New “Dual Role” Binder for Stabilizing Silicon Nanoparticles in Lithium-Ion Battery

For the first time, we report that graphene oxide (GO) can be used as a new “dual-role” binder for Si nanoparticles (SiNPs)-based lithium-ion batteries (LIBs). GO not only provides a graphene-like porous 3D framework for accommodating the volume changes of SiNPs during charging/discharging cycles, but also acts as a polymer-like binder that forms strong chemical bonds with SiNPs through its Si–OH functional groups to trap and stabilize SiNPs inside the electrode. Leveraging this unique dual-role of GO binder, we fabricated GO/SiNPs electrodes with remarkably improved performances as compared to using the conventional polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) binder. Specifically, the GO/SiNPs electrode showed a specific capacity of 2400 mA h g^–1 at the 50th cycle and 2000 mA h g^–1 at the 100th cycle, whereas the SiNPs/PVDF electrode only showed 456 mAh g^–1 at the 50th cycle and 100 mAh g^–1 at 100th cycle. Moreover, the GO/SiNPs film maintained its structural integrity and formed a stable solid–electrolyte interphase (SEI) film after 100 cycles. These results, combined with the well-established facile synthesis of GO, indicate that GO can be an excellent binder for developing high performance Si-based LIBs