Improvements in the design of catalytic carbon nanotube matrices for glucose (bio)fuel cells

摘要

Ambient energy sources present in the human environment like electromagnetic radiation, temperature, chemical, or motive energy are generally renewable and / or "quasifree". Even when some of such energies are limited, they may be sufficient for various applications. Glucose, present in sugar, is stable, non-toxic, and easy to handle, in the sense that there is no risk of injury or poisoning. Furthermore, glucose is present in many living organisms and represents an ambient energy source within such organisms like plants or mammals. The most likely application of glucose fuel cells in future is therefore the power supply of implanted medical devices like pacemakers, sensors, actuators, or artificial organs. In this context, a vast number of milestones have to be passed before this technology becomes competitive with up to date dominating Lithium batteries. Here, we present our recent results about the optimization of individual bioelectrodes and biofuel cell performances.