An Air‐breathing Carbon Cloth‐based Screen‐printed Electrode for Applications in Enzymatic Biofuel Cells

Abstract

We report a prototype air‐breathing carbon cloth‐based electrode that was fabricated starting from a commercially available screen‐printed electrode equipped with a transparent ITO working electrode (DropSens, ref. ITO10). The fabrication of the air‐breathing electrodes is straightforward, shows satisfactory reproducibility and a good electrochemical response as evaluated by means of [Fe(CN)6]3−/4− voltammetry. The gas‐diffusion electrodes were successfully modified with the O2 reducing enzyme bilirubin oxidase from Myrothecium verrucaria in a direct electron transfer regime. The enzyme modified electrodes showed a remarkable high current density for O2 reduction in passive air‐breathing mode of up to 5 mA cm−2. Moreover, the enzyme modified electrodes were applied as O2 reducing biocathodes in a glucose/air enzymatic biofuel cell in combination with a high current density glucose oxidase/redox polymer bioanode. The biofuel cell provides a high maximum power density of (0.34±0.02) mW cm−2 at 0.25 V. The straightforward design, low cost and the high reproducibility of these electrodes are considered as basis for standardized measurements under gas‐breathing conditions and for high throughput screening of gas converting (bio‐)catalysts.

Enzymatic Glucose-Oxygen Biofuel Cells for Highly Efficient Interfacial Corrosion Protection

“…The obtained power was limited by the cathodic reaction, but it might be further improved by implementing gas-diffusion electrodes in order to overcome the relatively low oxygen solubility and mass transport constraints on the cathodic side. 49,50 Bioelectronic Interface for Corrosion Protection. The results of the optimization of the voltage needed between the iron rod serving as the cathode and the coiled platinum anode show that a minimum of 2.2 V is necessary for the successful corrosion protection in PBS buffer.…”

“…The maximum power was 500 μW at 0.3 V with a short-circuit current value of 2 mA. The obtained power was limited by the cathodic reaction, but it might befurther improved by implementing gas-diffusion electrodes in order to overcome the relatively low oxygen solubility and mass transport constraints on the cathodic side 49,50.…”

Development of Reasonably Stable Chitosan Based Proton Exchange Membranes for a Glucose Oxidase Based Enzymatic Biofuel Cell

“…High performance and long‐term stability are necessary for commercial applications . Therefore, many studies were performed for enzyme electrode development to increase performance . One the other hand, one of the important challenges for the enzymatic biofuel cell applications is membrane development for proton transfer since popular fuel cell membranes (i. e. perfluorosulfonic acid type membranes like Nafion®) are found as not effective because of cation inhibition .…”

Mini-Review: Recent Technologies of Electrode and System in the Enzymatic Biofuel Cell (EBFC)

“…It seems that the fabrication of these two stacks shows that EBFC is easy to dispose of after use. Markovic et al [88] also used the screen printing technique to produce a single cell of EBFC. Rewatkar et al [78] developed the four series-parallel arrangements (series, parallel, and combined series-parallel) of microfluidic paper-based analytical EBFCs using a mini 3D-printed platform.…”