Direct methanol biocatalytic fuel cell—Considerations of restraints on electron transfer

Zhang, Xia-Chang; Ranta, Anja; Halme, Aarne

doi:10.1016/j.bios.2006.01.035

Cited by 22 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 7 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…In order to solve this problem, many small power sources have been explored, such as biofuel cells [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10], energy harvesting devices [11,12], ultra-capacitors [13,14], micro-batteries [15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24], etc. Typical millimeter sized biofuel cells and miniature energy harvesting devices produce peak powers of a few micro-watts or less, which is usually not sufficient for most applications.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Integrated micro-power source based on a micro-silicon fuel cell and a micro electromechanical system hydrogen generator

Zhu

Lin

Morgan

et al. 2008

Journal of Power Sources

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Integrated micro-power source based on a micro-silicon fuel cell and a micro electromechanical system hydrogen generator

Zhu

Lin

Morgan

et al. 2008

Journal of Power Sources

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

“…There are also examples in the literature, where an enzymatic electrode has been combined with a conventional catalyst electrode. Provided that an abiotical electrode usually exhibits higher stability, metal catalysts for the anodic reaction [11][12][13][14][15][16][17] and more often for the cathodic reaction [18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30] have been employed in order to complete the electrical circuit and to test the bioelectrodes under -fuel cell‖ conditions. The presence of one biocomponent (either anode or cathode) commonly allows the authors to refer to the studied systems as biofuel cells.…”

Section: Enzymatic Fuel Cells In the Context Of Biofuel Cellsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Benzoquinone was adopted as a mediator for GOx covalently attached through carbodiimide coupling to electropolymerized blend of 3-methylthiophene and thiophene-3-acetic acid [22]. Similar approach was also used for other fuels as in the case of methanol oxidation by PQQ-dependent ADH mixed with graphite paste in the presence of soluble N,N,N',N'-tetramethyl-p-phenylenediamine (TMPD) [24]. The utilization of diffusional mediator is common also for studies on microfluidic biofuel cells, which are usually focused not on the electrode performance but rather on mass transport and design issues, i.e., a study on oxygen limitations in a microfluidic biofuel cell comprising soluble GOx and phenazine methosulphate [63].…”

Section: Configurations Based On Diffusional and Immobilized Mediatorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Recent Advances in Enzymatic Fuel Cells: Experiments and Modeling

2010

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Enzymatic fuel cells convert the chemical energy of biofuels into electrical energy. Unlike traditional fuel cell types, which are mainly based on metal catalysts, the enzymatic fuel cells employ enzymes as catalysts. This fuel cell type can be used as an implantable power source for a variety of medical devices used in modern medicine to administer drugs, treat ailments and monitor bodily functions. Some advantages in comparison to conventional fuel cells include a simple fuel cell design and lower cost of the main fuel cell components, however they suffer from severe kinetic limitations mainly due to inefficiency in electron transfer between the enzyme and the electrode surface. In this review article, the major research activities concerned with the enzymatic fuel cells (anode and cathode development, system design, modeling) by highlighting the current problems (low cell voltage, low current density, stability) will be presented. © 1996-2010 MDPI Publishing (Basel, Switzerland) [accessed May 7, 2010

show abstract

“…In mediated electron transfer, the system contains species whose formal potential is above that of the cofactor and which can interact with the enzyme. The electrons are transferred by chemical reduction to the mediator, which will at some point arrive to the electrode, reoxidize there and return to be reduced once again by the cofactor [66][67][68]. A common example used with PQQ-based enzymes is N,N,N',N'-tetramethylphenylene-1,4-diamine (TMPD) [68].…”

Section: Enzymatic Catalysismentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The electrons are transferred by chemical reduction to the mediator, which will at some point arrive to the electrode, reoxidize there and return to be reduced once again by the cofactor [66][67][68]. A common example used with PQQ-based enzymes is N,N,N',N'-tetramethylphenylene-1,4-diamine (TMPD) [68]. The most important parameter is the formal potential difference between the cofactor and the mediator because that potential difference is lost for the fuel cell.…”

Section: Enzymatic Catalysismentioning

confidence: 99%

Silicon nanograss as micro fuel cell gas diffusion layer

et al. 2010

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Direct methanol fuel cells (DMFC) produce electrical energy directly from chemical energy. They are a promising candidate for power sources of portable devices due to the high energy density of methanol and the quick recharging procedure by fuel insertion. However, the problem areas of the DMFC are the slow electro-oxidation of methanol and the permeated methanol reacting at the cathode. New catalysts are constantly searched but they are often tested only for catalytic activity and the DMFC testing is omitted even though the catalyst layer (CL) structure has a large impact on the performance. Miniaturization of the system is also necessary for portable applications. Silicon etching can be used to fabricate small structures for fuel cells replacing or enhancing the functions of laboratory-scale components.In the first part of this thesis, new catalysts for the DMFC are studied with the emphasis on the CL structure. Different carbon supports for the anode were studied: standard carbon black and alternative few-walled carbon nanotubes (FWCNT) and graphitized carbon nanofiber (GNF). The alternative supports showed better DMFC performance but their stability was lower than with carbon black. However, the CL formed with GNF showed a very porous structure enhancing the mass transfer, so that higher binder content could be used improving the stability to the level of carbon black and the performance by 30%. The FWCNTs were also investigated as a platform for enzymatic methanol oxidation by studying the electrochemical properties of an immobilized cofactor pyrroloquinoline quinone (PQQ). A large amount of PQQ was adsorbed having a strong redox response and good stability in a wide pH window. For the cathode, a methanol-tolerant, Pt-free nitrogen-doped FWCNTs were tested in an alkaline DMFC as such testing is not often made. Its performance was remarkably 4 times better than with Pt when synthetic air was used as the oxidant.In the second part of thesis, an integrated gas diffusion layer (GDL) consisting of Si nanoneedles (nanograss) was tested in a micro fuel cell (MFC). The layer functioned properly at low current densities. For high power applications, a standard carbon cloth GDL was tested with the nanograss as a contact surface reducing the resistance between the GDL and the flow field. The use of the nanograss improved the MFC performance and stability. Finally, the MFCs were used as a catalyst testing platform and the results were compared with a similar test in a laboratory-scale DMFC. The results varied showing that the DMFC components also have a large impact on catalyst testing.Keywords direct methanol fuel cell, carbon nanomaterials, micro fuel cells, catalyst layer Tiivistelmä Suorametanolipolttokennot (SMPK) tuottavat sähköenergiaa suoraan kemiallisesta energiasta. Ne ovat lupaava vaihtoehto kannettavien laitteiden voimanlähteeksi, koska metanolilla on korkea energiatiheys ja lataaminen tapahtuu nopeasti polttoainelisäyksellä. SMPK:lla on kuitenkin rajoitteina metanolin hidas hapetusreaktio ja katodi...

show abstract

Direct methanol biocatalytic fuel cell—Considerations of restraints on electron transfer

Cited by 22 publications

References 7 publications

Integrated micro-power source based on a micro-silicon fuel cell and a micro electromechanical system hydrogen generator

Integrated micro-power source based on a micro-silicon fuel cell and a micro electromechanical system hydrogen generator

Recent Advances in Enzymatic Fuel Cells: Experiments and Modeling

Silicon nanograss as micro fuel cell gas diffusion layer

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About