Design and Fabrication of Glucose/O2 Enzymatic Biofuel Cell

Abstract

Enzyme-based biofuel cells (EBFCs) are systems that use a variety of organic compounds to produce electricity through oxido-reductase enzymes, such as oxidase or dehydrogenase as biocatalysts immobilized on electrodes. In this study, a single-chamber EBFC consisting of carbon electrodes that operating at ambient temperature in phosphate buffer, pH 7 is reported. The EBFC anode was based on glucose oxidase (GOx) enzyme from Aspergilus niger immobilized on carbon fiber electrode based on carbon nanotube (CNT) and Nafion. The cathode was air-breathing based on Pt/C. The GOx/CNT/Nafion-based bioanode and air-breathing cathode were combined into a functional EBFC. The operation of EBFC was carefully investigated by use of glucose/O2 as substrate and oxidant respectively. The maximum power delivered by the assembled biofuel cell in stationary state, reached 106.4 µW/cm2 at 0.45 V with 0.2 M glucose at 25°C. Also the best Results of the fabricated cell show that present biofuel cell could be used as a power source to generate electricity for small power bioelectronic devices.