A Direct Catalytic Ethanol Fuel Cell (DCEFC) Modified by LDHs, or by Catalase-LDHs, and Improvement in Its Kinetic Performance: Applications for Human Saliva and Disinfectant Products for COVID-19

Mauro Tomassetti; Riccardo Pezzilli; Claudio Leonardi; Giuseppe Prestopino; Corrado Di Natale; Luigi Campanella; Pier Gianni Medaglia

doi:10.3390/bios13040441

A Direct Catalytic Ethanol Fuel Cell (DCEFC) Modified by LDHs, or by Catalase-LDHs, and Improvement in Its Kinetic Performance: Applications for Human Saliva and Disinfectant Products for COVID-19

Biosensors (Basel). 2023 Mar 30;13(4):441. doi: 10.3390/bios13040441.

Authors

Mauro Tomassetti^{1

2}, Riccardo Pezzilli³, Claudio Leonardi³, Giuseppe Prestopino³, Corrado Di Natale¹, Luigi Campanella², Pier Gianni Medaglia³

Affiliations

¹ Department of Electronic Engineering, University of Rome "Tor Vergata", Viale del Politecnico 1, 00133 Rome, Italy.
² Department of Chemistry, University of Rome "La Sapienza", P.le A. Moro 5, 00185 Rome, Italy.
³ Department of Industrial Engineering, University of Rome "Tor Vergata", Viale del Politecnico 1, 00133 Rome, Italy.

Abstract

In this work, it has been experimentally proven that the kinetic performance of a common Direct Catalytic Ethanol Fuel Cell (DCEFC) can be increased by introducing nanostructured (Zn^II,Al^III(OH)₂)⁺NO₃^-·H₂O Layered Double Hydroxides (LDHs) into the anode compartment. Carrying out the measurements with the open-circuit voltage method and using a kinetic format, it has been shown that the introduction of LDHs in the anodic compartment implies a 1.3-fold increase in the calibration sensitivity of the method. This improvement becomes even greater in the presence of hydrogen peroxide in a solution. Furthermore, we show that the calibration sensitivity increased by 8-times, when the fuel cell is modified by the enzyme catalase, crosslinked on LDHs and in the presence of hydrogen peroxide. The fuel cell, thus modified (with or without enzyme), has been used for analytical applications on real samples, such as biological (human saliva) and hand disinfectant samples, commonly used for the prevention of COVID-19, obtaining very positive results from both analytical and kinetic points of view on ethanol detection. Moreover, if the increase in the calibration sensitivity is of great importance from the point of view of analytical applications, it must be remarked that the increase in the speed of the ethanol oxidation process in the fuel cell can also be extremely useful for the purposes of improving the energy performance of a DCEFC.

Keywords: application to check ethanol in saliva; catalase enzyme crosslinking LDHs; disinfectant solutions; efficiency improvement using LDHs; modified direct catalytic ethanol fuel cell.

MeSH terms

COVID-19*
Catalase
Ethanol*
Humans
Hydrogen Peroxide
Hydroxides
Saliva

Substances

Catalase
Ethanol
Hydrogen Peroxide
Hydroxides

Grants and funding

This research received no external funding.