Biofuel cells - Activation of micro- and macro-electronic devices

Abstract

The article represents a short conceptual overview of biofuel cell applications, rather than their design and operation. Special attention is given to interfacing enzyme-based biofuel cells with power consuming microelectronic devices. Importance of electronic management of the power extracted from biological sources is emphasized. In addition to several briefly explained examples collected from recent publications, one system demonstrating powering of a standard glucometer with an implantable or wearable biofuel cell is described in details. The opinion on the biofuel cell applications and limitations represents the personal vision of the authors and might be not fully in accordance with the opinions of other experts.

Keywords: Biofuel cell; Biomedical application; Enzymes; Glucometer; Microbial fuel cell; Microelectronics; Power management.