In Situ Characterizations of Porous Media for Applications in Biofuel Cells: Issues and Challenges - Porous Media: Applications in Biological Systems and Biotechnology - page 491

13.2 Biofuel Cell Applications
Biofuel cells are attractive as promising micropower generation devices par-
ticularly for low-power niche applications (e.g., for enzymatic biofuel cells,
some recent efforts have been reported by Palmore et al. 1998; Ikeda and
Kano 2001; Katz et al. 2003; Akers et al. 2005; De Lacey et al. 2000; Qian
et al. 2002; Karyakin et al. 2002; Atanassov et al. 2007; Minteer et al. 2007;
Cooney and Liaw 2008; and, for microbial biofuel cells, Delaney et al. 1984;
Allen and Bennetto 1993; Kim et al. 1999; Bond et al. 2002; Chaudhuri and
Lovley 2003; Bond and Lovley 2003; Rabaey et al. 2003; Liu and Logan 2004;
Cheng et al. 2006; Ringeisen et al. 2006; Weber et al. 2006; Richter et al.
2008). A recent review by Calabrese-Barton et al. (2004) summarized the
work up to early 2000 for implantable microdevices. An abiotic glucose bio-
fuel cell configuration recently reported by Kerzenmacher et al. is shown in
Figure 13.1 to illustrate a potential power source for medical implant appli-
cations (Kerzenmacher et al. 2008).
The seminal work by A. Heller and his coworkers has shown the viability
of using miniature biofuel cells in implants (Mano et al. 2003; Heller 2004),
as illustrated in Figure 13.2. Recently a landmark effort in commercializing
glucose biofuel cells was demonstrated by Sony Corp. (Sakai et al. 2009) in
its launch of a glucose battery to power small electronic devices such as MP3
players (Figure 13.3). Another interesting glucose battery without the use of
precious metal or biological catalysts was reported by Scott and Liaw lately,
as shown in Figure 13.4 (Scott and Liaw 2009). Some earlier work of microbial
biofuel cell in mediatorless configurations using Shewanella putrefaciens was
reported by Kim et al. as illustrated in Figure 13.5 (Kim et al. 2002).
Similar concepts are also being investigated for biosensor and other bio-
electrocatalytic applications. For instance, Bianco discussed protein modified
and membrane electrodes for biomolecular sensor applications up to early 2000
(Bianco 2002). More recently, Katz and Willner promote nanoparticle (NP)-
enzyme hybrid systems for nanobiotechnology applications (Katz and Willner
2004; Willner et al. 2007). Figure 13.6 illustrates an earlier example of how
a surface-modified gold (Au) electrode can be used in biosensor applications
(Xiao et al. 2003; Willner et al. 2007). In the example, the reconstitution of
apo-flavoenzyme and apo-glucose oxidase (GOx) is illustrated by the immobi-
lization of pyrroloquinoline quinone (PQQ)-flavin adenine dinucleotide (FAD)
(Figure 13.6 [a] and [b]) on gold electrode, which was used as the platforms to
immobilize GOx for glucose biosensor applications. The Au is functionalized
with the cofactor flavin adenine dinucleotide (FAD) and PQQ to incorporate
the enzymes to perform bioelectrocatalysis of glucose oxidation. The ampero-
metric responses of the sensor with respect to the glucose concentrations were
illustrated in Figure 13.6(c). Under a potentiostatic operation, the sensor will
produce current in proportion to the glucose concentration in the ambient
environment.