Performance of a paper-based microfluidic fuel cell using a ZnO/Ni-based composite as anode working with diabetic urine as fuel

Abstract

Urine has recently been considered a source of novel biomarkers for early disease detection; developing more autonomous medical devices would be possible if the urine is also used as fuel in microfluidic fuel cells. This work presents a paper-based microfluidic fuel cell that operates, for the first time, with diabetic urine. Diabetic urine has a different composition than normal urine, and some molecules could affect urea oxidation and decrease fuel cell power generation. This work shows a selective catalyst of ZnO and nickel-based particles used as anode in a paper-based microfluidic fuel cell. Catalysts with different concentrations of Ni+2 were evaluated. The best results were obtained with 3% nickel, using diabetic urine; the maximum voltage achieved was 0.89 V, with a maximum current density of 1.18 mA cm-2 and a maximum power density of 1.26 mW cm-2.