Electrode Design Paves Way for High-Performance Hybrid Biofuel Cells

Hybrid biofuel cells with higher power production and operational stability result from amphiphilic assembly. Biosensing systems and electrochemical devices both benefit from enzyme electrodes. Biofuel cells (BFCs), which convert metabolic energy into electricity under moderate biological circumstances, are particularly intriguing prospects for powering a wide range of bioelectronic devices.

Due to inadequate electron transport between enzymes and electrodes, as well as between surrounding enzymes, most biofuel cells provide low power output and have short-term operational stability. The performance of practically all electrochemical sensors, including BFCs and other bioelectronics, is intimately tied to electron transfer difficulties.

Scientists from Korea and the United States address these flaws in the journal Applied Physics Reviews, published by AIP Publishing, with an amphiphilic assembly designed to build high-performance biofuel cells.

Hybrid biofuel cells with high power output and strong operational stability were created using the approach, which may promote favorable interfacial contacts between electrocatalysts and considerably increase the electron transfer kinetics of electrodes.

“Our novel electrode design using an amphiphilic assembly, which breaks with the common perspective of enzyme immobilization, can maximize the electron transfer at the enzyme/enzyme and enzyme/electrode interfaces as well as realize high operational stability, inducing the formation of a perfect and nanoblended enzyme layer,” stated author Cheong Hoon Kwon.

The technique increased the electron transfer kinetics of electrodes by causing favorable interfacial contacts between electrocatalysts. It achieved remarkable bulk loading of hydrophilic enzyme and hydrophobic/conductive metal nanoparticles, boosting electron transfer efficiency and current density dramatically.

The anode was made up of amphiphilic constructed multilayers made up of glucose oxidases in aqueous media and hydrophobic/conductive nanoparticles in nonpolar media, which significantly improved electron transfer efficiency and immobilization stability. To increase the effectiveness of the oxygen reduction process, the cathode was created by sputtering platinum onto gold nanoparticle-coated cotton fibrils.

The approach might be used to make a range of high-performance electrochemical devices, including biofuel cells, according to the researchers.

“Our results could be of significant interest to various researchers and engineers working in the areas of self-assembly, energy conversion, and electrochemical sensors, in addition to BFCs,” said Jinhan Cho, a co-author on the publication.