Enzymatic Biofuel Cells - A Progress Review

Fuel cells are applied for primary and backup power for commercial, industrial and residential buildings and in remote or inaccessible areas. They are also employed to power fuel-cell vehicles, including forklifts, automobiles, buses, boats, motorcycles and submarines. An Enzymatic biofuel cell is a bioelectronics device, a specific type of fuel cell that uses enzymes as a catalyst to oxidize its fuel, rather than precious metals. It has several attractive points including: the ability to operate optimally at temperatures between RT and body temperature; the flexibility of fuels that can be employed, including renewable fuel (e.g., ethanol, sucrose, glucose, glycerol) and traditional fuels (e.g. hydrogen, methanol, etc.); and the application of non-platinum renewable catalysts. The two main application areas that are considered for enzymatic biofuel cells are insitu, implantable power supplies for sensors and pacemakers and ex vivo power supplies for small portable power devices (portable electronics, wireless sensor networks, etc.). The implantable devices would most likely uses glucose as a fuel and recent advances that biofuel cells can be implanted and continue to function in a living organism. Different types of enzymatic fuel cells are reviewed for their structure, developments, applications and the future research possibilities in this paper.