Biofuel Cell Operating in Vivo in Rat

Abstract

Biocatalytic electrodes made of buckypaper were modified with PQQ‐dependent glucose dehydrogenase on the anode and with laccase on the cathode. The enzyme modified electrodes were assembled in a biofuel cell which was first characterized in human serum solution and then the electrodes were placed onto exposed rat cremaster tissue. Glucose and oxygen dissolved in blood were used as the fuel and oxidizer, respectively, for the implanted biofuel cell operation. The steady‐state open circuitry voltage of 140±30 mV and short circuitry current of 10±3 µA (current density ca. 5 µA cm−2 based on the geometrical electrode area of 2 cm2) were achieved in the in vivo operating biofuel cell. Future applications of implanted biofuel cells for powering of biomedical and sensor devices are discussed.

Power Harvesting from Human Serum in Buckypaper-Based Enzymatic Biofuel Cell

“…The shapes of power curves for elevated sugar values in this model system were almost identical where the maximum power output was obtained with different glucose concentrations at the optimum external load of 10 kΩ. Since the variations at power generation represent the current/voltage dependence on the glucose (Castorena-Gonzalez et al, 2013), obtained net power has increased from 4.03 to 12.29 μW when the glucose levels were increased from 4.89 to 24.89 mM. However, linearity between the power output and glucose concentration was achieved between 4.89 and 19.89 mM (final concentrations) as the saturation level of the glucose concentration was reached for the biofuel cell operation.…”

Enzymatic Glucose Biofuel Cell and its Application

“…In the last decade or so, various type of enzymatic biofuel cells employing enzymatic reactions at both electrodes (bioanode and biocathode) have been researched and published [12,[16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25] thereby illustrating the high degree of continuous progress being made in the field of biofuel cell development. In order to successfully generate electrical power using enzyme modified electrodes, an important factor: the enzyme's ability for bioelectrocatalysis to the electrode must be considered.…”

“…The development of these nanostructured electrode materials have been show to greatly improve the electroactive area for enzyme immobilization [18,65,66]. Several reports also demonstrated the transition from in vitro to in vivo characterization of enzymatic glucose biofuel cells [13,15,24,25,67,68].…”

“…Thus, series or parallel combination of the enzymatic biofuel cells can be implemented based on the desired electrical parameter. Using the same buckypaper electrode platform, Castorena-Gonzalez et al [24] placed their biofuel cell in direct contact with the exposed tissue of a rat without having to implant the electrodes. The active surface area of each of the electrode was 2 cm 2 .…”

Flexible and transparent biological electric power sources based on nanostructured electrodes

“…Self-charging in 50 mM glucose/air saturated phosphate buffer saline, pH 7.4; when fully self-charged the biodevice was discharged at a constant load of 5 MW. Biological fuel cells (BFCs) in general, and enzymatic fuel cells (EFCs) in particular, have been envisioned as electrical power sources for self-contained bioelectronics including biomedical devices operating in vivo and ex vivo (Castorena-Gonzalez et al, 2013;Cosnier et al, 2016Cosnier et al, , 2014Falk et al, 2013bFalk et al, , 2014Halámková et al, 2012;Katz, 2014;Shleev, 2017).…”