Tailoring Biointerfaces for Electrocatalysis

Abstract

Bioelectrocatalysis is an expanding research area due to the use of this type of electrocatalysis in electrochemical biosensors, biofuel cells, bioelectrochemical cells, and biosolar cells. This feature article discusses recent advancements in tailoring the biointerface between electrodes and biocatalysts for facile electrocatalysis. This includes the design of pyrene moieties for directing the orientation of biocatalysts on electrode surfaces and mediation as well as the rational design of redox polymers for self-exchange-based electron transport to/from biocatalysts and the electrode and the use of bioscaffolding techniques for designing the bioelectrode structure. However, recent advances in the past decade have shown the importance of hybrid bioelectrocatalytic systems, and future work will be needed to use these same pyrene, redox polymer, and bioscaffolding techniques for hybrid bioelectrocatalysis.

Square Wave Voltcoulommetry Analysis of the Influence of the Electrostatic Environment on the Electrochemical Functionality of Redox Monolayers

“…Self-assembling procedures of conducting or semi-conducting interfaces with electroactive species have become a broadly used methodology for endowing them of new properties that could improve their chemical/electrochemical functionality. [1][2][3][4][5] The resulting modified interfaces have a great number of applications as are the development of new sensors/ biosensors, [6,7] molecular and organic electronics, [8][9][10] and energy storage systems, [11,12] among many others, together with the possibility of exploring in detail fundamental aspects of charge transfer processes as well as the chemical reactivity at electrified interfaces. [13][14][15] In order to adjust optimally the emerging properties of these modified interfaces to a specific purpose, it is necessary to carry out their physicochemical characterization, and specifically, a detailed analysis of their electrochemical functionality.…”

Infrared Microscopy as a Probe of Composition within a Model Biofuel Cell Electrode Prepared from Trametes versicolor Laccase

“…The electrodes were prepared from a biocatalyst ink composed of orientation‐directing anthracene‐modified multi‐walled carbon nanotubes (An‐MWCNTs) (Scheme ) in a dispersion of short side chain (Aquivion) ionomer exchanged by hydrophobic cations. The combination of well characterized biocatalyst ( Trametes versicolor laccase (TvLc)), high surface area carbon nanomaterials and polymeric binder made the system attractive for infrared spectroscopic investigation and as a model for testing the μATR sampling technique. The sensitivity of spectral measurements to probe‐induced deformation of the soft polymer membrane‐based materials was assessed before approaching measurements on composite electrodes.…”

“…The catalyst‐modified graphite felt side of the electrode is exposed to air, but contacts electrolyte solution in the anode compartment through the hot‐pressed (∼50 μm) Nafion NRE‐212 membrane . The expanded region is a molecular‐scale depiction of the ideal orientation‐directing influence of An‐MWCNTs on TvLc and interactions among components …”

Redox mediation at poly(o-aminophenol) coated electrodes: mechanistic diagnosis from steady state polarization curves

“…Redox mediation has attracted the attention of many researchers [4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15], mainly because the possibility of tuning the electrochemical reactivity of the coated electrode towards a specific end, both by choosing appropriate redox mediators and by controlling the film characteristics. It is also possible to design mediators with certain specific properties, such as ion selectivity, conductivity, formal potential, etc.…”