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

Asta Kausaite-Minkstimiene; Algimantas Kaminskas; Anton Popov; Arunas Ramanavicius; Almira Ramanaviciene

doi:10.1038/s41598-021-97488-w

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

Sci Rep. 2021 Sep 17;11(1):18568. doi: 10.1038/s41598-021-97488-w.

Authors

Asta Kausaite-Minkstimiene¹, Algimantas Kaminskas², Anton Popov², Arunas Ramanavicius³, Almira Ramanaviciene⁴

Affiliations

¹ Nanotechnas - Center of Nanotechnology and Materials Science, Institute of Chemistry, Faculty of Chemistry and Geosciences, Vilnius University, Naugarduko st. 24, 03225, Vilnius, Lithuania. asta.kausaite@chf.vu.lt.
² Nanotechnas - Center of Nanotechnology and Materials Science, Institute of Chemistry, Faculty of Chemistry and Geosciences, Vilnius University, Naugarduko st. 24, 03225, Vilnius, Lithuania.
³ Department of Physical Chemistry, Institute of Chemistry, Faculty of Chemistry and Geosciences, Vilnius University, Naugarduko st. 24, 03225, Vilnius, Lithuania.
⁴ Nanotechnas - Center of Nanotechnology and Materials Science, Institute of Chemistry, Faculty of Chemistry and Geosciences, Vilnius University, Naugarduko st. 24, 03225, Vilnius, Lithuania. almira.ramanaviciene@chf.vu.lt.

Abstract

In this study, we reported the development of Prussian blue (PB), poly(pyrrole-2-carboxylic acid) (PPCA), and glucose oxidase (GOx) biocomposite modified graphite rod (GR) electrode as a potential biocathode for single enzyme biofuel cell fuelled by glucose. In order to design the biocathode, the GR electrode was coated with a composite of PB particles embedded in the PPCA shell and an additional layer of PPCA by cyclic voltammetry. Meanwhile, GOx molecules were covalently attached to the carboxyl groups of PPCA by an amide bond. The optimal conditions for the biocathode preparation were elaborated experimentally. After optimization, the developed biocathode showed excellent electrocatalytic activity toward the reduction of H₂O₂ formed during GOx catalyzed glucose oxidation at a low potential of 0.1 V vs Ag/AgCl, as well as good electrochemical performance. An electrocatalytic current density of 31.68 ± 2.70 μA/cm² and open-circuit potential (OCP) of 293.34 ± 15.70 mV in O₂-saturated 10 mM glucose solution at pH 6.0 were recorded. A maximal OCP of 430.15 ± 15.10 mV was recorded at 98.86 mM of glucose. In addition, the biocathode showed good operational stability, maintaining 95.53 ± 0.15% of the initial response after 14 days. These results suggest that this simply designed biocathode can be applied to the construction of a glucose-powered single enzyme biofuel cell.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't