Enzymatic Bioelectrodes Based on Carbon Nanotubes Modified Redox Hydrogels for Enhanced Output Current and Long Term Stability of Enzymatic Biofuel Cells

Over the past few decades, numerous efforts have been made worldwide for alternative energy resources for mobile devices as well as for implantable biomedical systems. In this respect, fuel cells have shown great potential and success. However, the continuous increase of research in this field, combined with economical and ecological factors, is pushing the demand for a ‘green technology’. As such, enzymatic biofuel cells (EBFCs) have gained great attention. EBFCs employ enzymes, such as glucose oxidase, to harvest energy from biofuels. They do not contain any toxic or corrosive components, attain high efficiency for oxidizing a specific fuel and provide high energy density. Further, they can be miniaturized to remarkably low volume and operate at physiological conditions. These reasons raised EBFCs to be the most interesting and promising candidate in the last few years for powering mobile devices as well as implantable biomedical devices.

In this thesis, anodes for enzymatic biofuel cells have been developed. The enzymatic anodes were built from redox hydrogels, incorporating carbon nanotubes and active glucose oxidase. Advantages of the generated electrodes include: large number of enzymes per surface area, rapid charge transport, extremely simple layer generation and high output power. Additionally, these electrodes showed a relatively high long term stability. These aspects render this system a promising candidate for the future generation of high-performance biofuel cells.