Korea University Develops High-Performance Fabric-Type Biofuel Cell with Enhanced Electron Transfer Mediators
KU (President Kim Dong-one) developed a high-performance fabric-type biofuel cell capable of supplying power to medical devices and biosensors without relying on an external power source.
The research group led by Professor Cho Jin-han and Professor Chung Yoon-jang of the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering at KU, master’s student Jang Youn-jun of KU-KIST, Professor Kwon Cheong-hoon of Kangwon National University, and Professor Choi Young-bong of Dankook University introduced a novel assembly method for integrating enzymes, electron transfer mediators, and metal nanoparticles into a conductive fabric to produce a biofuel cell (BFC).
A biofuel cell (BFC) is a type of energy source that converts biochemical energy into electrical energy using a biocatalyst. This type of cell is a bio-friendly cell that can operate electrical and electronic devices implanted in a living body (e.g. various biosensors including blood sugar sensors, heart pacemakers, etc.) without external power supply. Existing biofuel cells suffer the drawback that they are difficult to apply in practice due to not only their low power efficiency and operational stability in a living body but also their poor flexibility and other physical properties.
The research team developed a unique method of assembling electron transfer-intensified mediators by combining enzymes, electron transfer mediators, and metal nanoparticles. This method does not use a non-conductive crosslinking agent. Instead, an enzyme layer is immobilized based on electron transfer-intensified mediators containing metal nanoparticles. This effectively improves electron movement between electrodes, increasing cell performance.
The BFC developed by the research group exhibited an anodic current generation function 80% higher than that of the conventional method and a power generation function more than 8 times higher.
Jang Youn-Jun, the KU-KIST master’s student who led the experiment, said, “The BFC that we developed is expected to be widely used as a power source for high-performance biosensors or bio-implantable medical devices that require a higher performance than available from existing batteries.”
This study was supported by the Mid-Career Research Program and the KU-KIST Graduate School of Converging Science and Technology Program funded by the Ministry of Science and ICT and the National Research Foundation of Korea. The results of this study were published online on June 7 in Advanced Energy Materials (IF =27.8), an internationally renowned journal in the field of energy.