Modeling and Experimental Study of Micro Enzymatic Biofuel Cells

Abstract

Miniaturized enzymatic biofuel cells (EBFCs) converting biological energy into electrical energy by using enzyme-modified electrodes are considered as a candidate to power implantable medical devices and portable electronics. In this study, modeling of the EBFC system has been conducted using finite element analysis. The design rule has been developed in the steady state and the effect of orientation of EBFC chip in blood artery has been studied. In the experimental part, 3D carbon micropillar arrays have been fabricated and different functionalization techniques on the glassy carbon surface have also been demonstrated. Moreover, high surface area nanomaterials graphene has been integrated to improve the performance of EBFCs. The amperometric response for graphene based bioelectrodes exhibited excellent electrochemical performance and the resulting EBFC generated a maximum power density of 136.3 μWcm-2 at 0.59 V, which is about 7 times of the bare carbon based EBFC.