Insights on Hybrid Glucose Biofuel Cells Based on Bilirubin Oxidase Cathode and Gold‐Based Anode Nanomaterials

Abstract

International audienceWe report a straightforward design for a hybrid glucose biofuel cell (h-GBFC) operating at pH7.4 with 10mM glucose at 37 degrees C. Homemade electrospun carbon nanofibers were used as electrode support. Clean and highly active gold-based nanomaterials (3-6nm) were synthesized for glucose electrooxidation. Enhanced catalytic activity toward glucose oxidation has been highlighted. Bilirubin oxidase enzyme was used to catalyze the oxygen reduction reaction. The constructed h-GBFCs exhibit an unexpected and highly improved open circuit voltage of 0.92V, which is the best value so far reported for such cells. The abiotic Au60Pt20Pd20/C anode induces high electrical performance with a maximum power density of 91 mu Wcm(-2) at 0.365V. This improvement over monometallic anode catalysts has been assigned to synergistic effects between gold, platinum, and palladium. Strategies developed herein will serve as guidelines for the development of new rational pathways to more powerful, stable, and promising GBFC designs

Recent Advances in Carbon Supported Metal Nanoparticles Preparation for Oxygen Reduction Reaction in Low Temperature Fuel Cells

“…Thus, the partial or total substitution of Cl − by bromide anions must accentuate steric hindrance around the metal cation, which will further play a crucial role during the seed's growth. This advanced method has been successfully used to synthesize Au-based nanocatalysts for glucose electro-oxidation [38,57], Pd-based electrocatalysts for glycerol electro-oxidation [36,37,101] and hybrid/abiotic electrodes for biofuel cell application [102,103]. This convenient and straightforward synthesis approach is an environmentally friendly method and is based on the use of bromide ion as a capping agent, the major gate in the BAE process.…”

“…They also found that Pt/C and Pt/KB exhibited a highly improved specific electrochemical surface area (SECSA). It is worthy of note that all catalysts were prepared with a high chemical synthesis yield (ϖ > 90 %), defined as the percentage of the ratio between the experimental mass and the theoretical one based on the initial reactor mixture [102,103]. It should be emphasized that it is the first time that such a synthesis yield has been reported.…”

“…It has been observed that for Au-based bimetallics, the particle size increases with increasing Au content, which is a well-known phenomenon, coming from the difference in the reduction kinetics of the metal salts. Trimetallics AuPtPd supported on both Vulcan and Ketjenblack were also successfully prepared from BAE [102,103]. …”

Electrocatalytic and Electroanalytic Investigation of Carbohydrates Oxidation on Gold-Based Nanocatalysts in Alkaline and Neutral pHs

“…12,25 We reported the use of "Bromide Anion Exchange" (BAE) method, [29][30][31] a surfactant-free approach, to develop a line-up of Au-Pd-Pt nanocatalysts able to oxidize efficiently glucose at low electrode potentials at various pHs. [32][33][34] It was also shown that monometallic Au enables a selective oxidation of a range of carbohydrates by their anomeric position and even in a cogeneration fuel cell; 13,35 however, it was postulated that the selectivity remained limited to Au that exhibits remarkable catalytic activity [36][37][38] toward aldehydes and hemiacetals oxidation. Herein, we examine the extended analysis on Au 100-x M x (M = Pd, Pt) catalysts by coupling electrochemical techniques with spectroscopic and chromatographic methods to unravel the outstanding ability of these electrocatalysts, enabling the acquisition of clear and precise information on the electrocatalytic reaction.…”

Highly Porous Nitrogen-Doped Carbon Nanofibers as Efficient Metal-Free Catalysts toward the Electrocatalytic Oxygen Reduction Reaction

“…In contrast, electrospinning is a simple and versatile technique to fabricate 1D carbon nanomaterials without need of complex set-up, which offers a promising route for large-scale production of nanofibers. 15 The electrospun CNFs have been applied to electrochemistry as supercapacitors, 16 electrodes for Li-ion batteries, 17 biofuel cell, 18 and catalyst supports, 19 but few investigations were focused on their ORR properties in fuel cell. 15b, 20 In spite of their high nitrogen contents, the as-electrospun nitrogen-doped CNFs showed low activity for ORR due to low surface areas because most nitrogen-containing groups are buried in carbon matrix, 21 thus which are inaccessible to the reactants.…”