Carbon Nanotube-based, Membrane-less and Mediator-free Enzymatic Biofuel Cells

摘要

Emerging interest in biofuel cells is driven by their highly selective, room temperature catalytic activity, and the increasing need for biomedical power sources. Biofuel cells are a special class of fuel cells which use biocatalytic oxidation of organic substances, such as glucose, by oxygen at two electrode interfaces to directly convert biochemical energy into electrical energy. Since the first enzyme-based biofuel cell was reported in 1964 with the enzyme glucose oxidase (GOx) as the anode catalyst and glucose as fuel (1), enzymatic biofuel cells have received increasingly more attention. For enzyme-based biofuel cells, enzymes are immobilized on the electrodes for use as the fuel cell electrocatalyst. Direct electron transfer (DET) of electrons between the active site of the enzyme and the electrode is of current interest due to its simplicity and potential for miniaturization. One strategy to achieve DET to the enzyme is to build the electrode inside the enzyme in order to contact the redox active center of the enzyme.