Enzymatic Biofuel Cell: Opportunities and Intrinsic Challenges in Futuristic Applications

Abstract

Enzymatic biofuel cells (EBFCs) are known as sustainable energy sources due to the utilization of renewable enzyme biocatalysts and fuels, together with mild working conditions. Remarkably, their novel and interesting applications in the fields of implantable energy supply devices and self‐powered biosensor are born and attract extensive attention worldwide. But the transition from fundamental research to practical application is problematic due to low efficiency, poor durability, tricky miniaturization, and so on. So, in addition to a detailed review, whether the full potential of these novel EBFCs‐based applications can be implemented will be clearly stated herein as well. More importantly, the emergences of EBFCs‐based self‐powered therapy systems and EBFCs‐based artificial organ open up more possibilities for the future EBFCs. Such remarkable directions and opportunities of EBFCs will also be prospected in detail.

Multiscale modelling of diffusion and enzymatic reaction in porous electrodes in Direct Electron Transfer mode

“…The electrode is supplied by diffusion of oxygen from the bulk fluid, occupying the domain X e , surrounding the electrode. Electron exchange during Mano and de Poulpiquet, 2018;Solomon et al, 1996;Xiao et al, 2019;Wang et al, 2021), redox reactions can be catalyzed by enzymes which, in order to enhance their lifetime and stability, may be immobilized by entrapping the proteins (Moehlenbrock and Minteer, 2008;Minteer et al, 2012). This can be achieved using different techniques, like entrapment in a conducting polymer matrix occupying a more or less significant fraction of the pores, or adsorption at the pore surfaces (Cadet et al, 2016;Cosnier et al, 2016;Gamella et al, 2018), eventually combined with nano-structuration of the surfaces Zhao et al, 2017).…”

Development of a new biocathode for a single enzyme biofuel cell fuelled by glucose

“…With the growing demand for green electrical energy generation technologies, scientists are making great efforts to develop fuel cells (FCs), which are considered as one of the most promising alternative sustainable energy sources due to their renewable and environmental protection characteristics 1 . Unlike conventional FCs, which utilize the oxidation of fuels (H 2 , ethanol, or methanol) on an anode and reduction of an oxidant on a cathode employing a noble metal catalyst 2 , biological fuel cells (biofuel cells, BFCs) convert chemical energy into electrical energy by using organic fuels (sugars, alcohols, organic acids) produced during metabolic processes and a biological catalyst, which is usually either a microorganism or an enzyme.…”

Self-Powered Potentiometric Sensors with Memory

“…Usually, such an integration is possible by exploiting the sample under investigation to provide the required energy for sensing. A large proportion of self-powered electrochemical sensors have resulted from this approach, primarily in the field of biosensors (using biofuel cells and battery systems), where the analyzed sample induces a redox reaction across electrodes to produce a galvanic cell . Often, the use of enzymes, organelle substrates, and microorganisms have helped to achieve amperometric operation of self-powered sensors for detection of analytes such as glucose, lactate, cholesterol, ethanol, toxins, and biological oxygen demand. − The electrical signal generated from these redox reactions serves either directly as the indicator of the sensor response or is further processed to other output forms …”