Pacemaker Activated by an Abiotic Biofuel Cell Operated in Human Serum Solution

Abstract

An “abiotic” biofuel cell composed of catalytic electrodes modified with inorganic nanostructured species was used to activate a pacemaker. The catalytic nanoparticles of various compositions, AuxPty, deposited on carbon black (CB) were prepared and extensively characterized to select the species with selectivity for glucose oxidation and oxygen reduction. Then two kinds of 3D‐electrode materials with different morphology, buckypaper composed of carbon nanotubes (ca. 50 nm diameter) and carbon paper made of carbon fibers (ca. 7 µm diameter), were used in a combination with different catalytic species. Finally, Au/CB nanospecies deposited on buckypaper were selected for catalyzing glucose oxidation (composing the biofuel cell anode) and Au60Pt40/CB species deposited on carbon paper were selected for catalyzing oxygen reduction (composing the biofuel cell cathode). The catalytic electrodes were characterized by cyclic voltammetry in an aqueous buffer solution and the polarization function for the biofuel cell was studied in a human serum solution. The open circuit voltage, Voc, short circuit current density, jsc, and maximum power produced by the biofuel cell, Pmax, were found as 0.35 V, 0.65 mA cm−2 and 104 µW, respectively (in human serum at 5.4 mM glucose). The biofuel cell produced the steady state open circuit voltage over 10 hours with its slow decrease over 50 hours originating from the glucose depletion and slow mass‐transport within the 3D‐electrode. The voltage produced by the biofuel cell was amplified with an energy harvesting circuit and applied to a pacemaker resulting in its proper operation. The present study continues the research line where different implantable (enzyme‐based or abiotic) biofuel cells are used for the activation of biomedical electronic devices, e.g., pacemakers.

Electrocatalytic and Electroanalytic Investigation of Carbohydrates Oxidation on Gold-Based Nanocatalysts in Alkaline and Neutral pHs

“…Taken together, these clues underpin a drastic change of the reaction kinetics with the revisited BAE protocol since C-C bond cleavage compounds and gluconolactone were observed on other electrodes based on nanoscale materials. 52,53 In summary, it can be qualitatively concluded that glucose is selectively oxidized to gluconate according to a 2-electron pathway.…”

“…Otherwise, the nature of the reaction product can no longer be extended a priori to other aqueous media. Given the great interest of metallic nanoparticles at pHs close to biological conditions for sensing or other "abiotic" purposes, 33,34,[52][53][54][55][56][57][58] we subsequently turned our spectroelectrochemical apparatus out to elucidate the nature of the reaction product. Compared to the investigations in a "relatively clean electrolyte" that is basic NaOH solution, the translation of spectroelectrochemistry in pH close to 7 is prohibitively challenging with added factors such as the low activity of metals toward organics electrooxidation and the presence of species such as phosphates which can interfere since they have vibration bands in the considered spectral domain.…”

Recent Advances in Carbon Supported Metal Nanoparticles Preparation for Oxygen Reduction Reaction in Low Temperature Fuel Cells

“…Thus, the partial or total substitution of Cl − by bromide anions must accentuate steric hindrance around the metal cation, which will further play a crucial role during the seed's growth. This advanced method has been successfully used to synthesize Au-based nanocatalysts for glucose electro-oxidation [38,57], Pd-based electrocatalysts for glycerol electro-oxidation [36,37,101] and hybrid/abiotic electrodes for biofuel cell application [102,103]. This convenient and straightforward synthesis approach is an environmentally friendly method and is based on the use of bromide ion as a capping agent, the major gate in the BAE process.…”

“…They also found that Pt/C and Pt/KB exhibited a highly improved specific electrochemical surface area (SECSA). It is worthy of note that all catalysts were prepared with a high chemical synthesis yield (ϖ > 90 %), defined as the percentage of the ratio between the experimental mass and the theoretical one based on the initial reactor mixture [102,103]. It should be emphasized that it is the first time that such a synthesis yield has been reported.…”

Sandwich Biobattery with Enzymatic Cathode and Zinc Anode Integrated with Sensor

“…13 In a different approach, Lambert et al proposed BFC with cellobiose dehydrogenase as bioanode catalyst and a bilirubin oxidase based biocathode, 14 16 BFC was proposed for interfacing biomolecular information processing and electronic system. 17 The bioanode was based on PQQ-GDH and laccase was on the biocathode.…”