Research Progress in Enzyme Biofuel Cells Modified Using Nanomaterials and Their Implementation as Self-Powered Sensors

Abstract

Enzyme biofuel cells (EBFCs) can convert chemical or biochemical energy in fuel into electrical energy, and therefore have received widespread attention. EBFCs have advantages that traditional fuel cells cannot match, such as a wide range of fuel sources, environmental friendliness, and mild reaction conditions. At present, research on EBFCs mainly focuses on two aspects: one is the use of nanomaterials with excellent properties to construct high-performance EBFCs, and the other is self-powered sensors based on EBFCs. This article reviews the applied nanomaterials based on the working principle of EBFCs, analyzes the design ideas of self-powered sensors based on enzyme biofuel cells, and looks forward to their future research directions and application prospects. This article also points out the key properties of nanomaterials in EBFCs, such as electronic conductivity, biocompatibility, and catalytic activity. And the research on EBFCs is classified according to different research goals, such as improving battery efficiency, expanding the fuel range, and achieving self-powered sensors.

Fueling the Future: The Emergence of Self-Powered Enzymatic Biofuel Cell Biosensors

“…However, the development of enzymatic biofuel cells has experienced significant growth in recent years, leading to improvement in their stability and power output, Figure 1A. Recent studies have focused on elucidating the reaction mechanisms of enzyme catalytic reactions [18,19], developing novel biomaterials [20], exploring enzyme modification techniques, [21] investigating enzyme immobilization methods [22,23], and refining enzyme electrode structures [9,24]. Current research efforts are focused on enhancing the performance of enzyme-modified electrodes [25].…”

“…This dual functionality is possible when the enzyme and its concentration on the electrode are carefully selected to match the concentrations of the species being measured [8]. By optimizing these parameters, biofuel cells can generate an electrical signal in response to specific biochemical reactions, allowing them to both power and detect the presence of target analytes [9].…”

“…Ongoing research and advancements in materials science, nanotechnology, and energy harvesting techniques are steadily improving self-powered biosensor technology [12]. Many recent studies also focused on enhancing the efficiency of the cathode reaction, which, in many cases, is the main limitation of biofuel cell design, especially for powering medical implantable devices [9,13]. As these challenges are addressed, self-powered biosensors hold tremendous potential for transforming the fields of healthcare, environmental monitoring, food safety, and others [14].…”