A One-Compartment, Direct Glucose Fuel Cell for Powering Long-Term Medical Implants

Abstract

We present the operational concept, microfabrication, and electrical performance of an enzyme-less direct glucose fuel cell for harvesting the chemical energy of glucose from body fluids. The spatial concentrations of glucose and oxygen at the electrodes of the one-compartment setup are established by self-organization, governed by the balance of electrochemical depletion and membrane diffusion. Compared to less stable enzymatic and immunogenic microbial fuel cells, this robust approach excels with an extended life time, the amenability to sterilization and biocompatibility, showing up a clear route towards an autonomous power supply for longterm medical implants without the need of surgical replacement and external refueling. Operating in physiological phosphate buffer solution containing 0.1 wt% glucose and having a geometrical cathode area of 10 cm², our prototype already delivers 20 µW peak power over a period of 7 days.

Production of Glucose by Starch and Cellulose Acid Hydrolysis and its Use as a Fuel in Low-Temperature Direct-Mode Fuel Cells

“…Thus, the detected OCV and current density values with a lower glucose concentration in hydrolysates did not produce values equal to those reached earlier with pure glucose [1,2]. The current density values for pure glucose at RT and at 51 o C were found to be essentially higher than the findings in earlier reports [3][4][5], in which biofuel cells with starch or glucose as a fuel were provided with either a microbial culture and/or a proton-selective membrane. According to the results in this presentation, the development of the acid hydrolysis of starch and cellulose should be developed so as to be able to concentrate glucose in hydrolysates to minimum values of 1 M. However, in the concentrating step the temperature must not exceed 40 o C in order to prevent the decomposition of the glucose as described in Ref.…”

“…There are fuel cells which operate with solidphase electrolyte and tissue cultures, which contain a biological electro-catalyst either in the form of enzymes or of living microorganisms, together with proton-selective membranes for the in situ reforming of bioorganic materials [3][4][5]. However, fuels such as glucose or other carbohydrates can easily be utilised by mixing them directly in the electrolyte without the use of any auxiliary equipment or additional microbial cultures.…”

“…However, fuels such as glucose or other carbohydrates can easily be utilised by mixing them directly in the electrolyte without the use of any auxiliary equipment or additional microbial cultures. Many studies have been conducted in which metallic catalysts were used in electrolytes with different pH values [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11].…”

“…This yield is equal to aqueous bioethanol, when it is used as a fuel without carbonisation problems in the fuel cells [6,7]. In the earlier studies regarding direct bioorganic oxidations, the anodic catalyst materials were different Pt alloys [4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11].…”

Starch and Cellulose as Fuel Sources for Low Temperature Direct Mode Fuel Cells

“…Concerning the application of glucose or other carbohydrates, if the fuels for fuel cell operation were dissolved in an electrolyte, there would be no need for auxiliary reforming equipment or additional bacterial cultures. Also, a direct operation mode for these fuels in fuel cells would not need any proton selective membranes as the PEM fuel cell does [4,5]. In the development of the selected bioorganic fuel cell, there is a target of producing oxidation reactions in ionic form in the liquid phase by increasing the oxidation number of the reaction *Address correspondence to this author at the Helsinki University of Technology, Laboratory of Applied Thermodynamics, P.O.…”