Energies 2014, 7(1), 1-12; doi:10.3390/en7010001
Evaluation of Biofuel Cells with Hemoglobin as Cathodic Electrocatalysts for Hydrogen Peroxide Reduction on Bare Indium-Tin-Oxide Electrodes
Measurement Solution Research Center, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), 807-1 Shukumachi, Tosu, Saga 841-0052, Japan
†
Current address: Faculty of Textile Science and Technology, Materials and Chemical Engineering, Shinshu University, 3-15-1 Tokida, Ueda, Nagano 386-8567, Japan.
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Received: 1 November 2013 / Revised: 9 December 2013 / Accepted: 13 December 2013 / Published: 20 December 2013
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biomass and Biofuels 2013)
Abstract
A biofuel cell (BFC) cathode has been developed based on direct electron transfer (DET) of hemoglobin (Hb) molecules with an indium-tin-oxide (ITO) electrode and their electrocatalysis for reduction of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2). In this study, the ITO-coated glass plates or porous glasses were prepared by using a chemical vapor deposition (CVD) method and examined the electrochemical characteristics of the formed ITO in pH 7.4 of phosphate buffered saline (PBS) solutions containing and not containing Hb. In half-cell measurements, the reduction current of H2O2 due to the electrocatalytic activity of Hb increased with decreasing electrode potential from around 0.1 V versus Ag|AgCl|KCl(satd.) in the PBS solution. The practical open-circuit voltage (OCV) on BFCs utilizing H2O2 reduction at the Hb-ITO cathode with a hydrogen (H2) oxidation anode at a platinum (Pt) electrode was expected to be at least 0.74 V from the theoretical H2 oxidation potential of −0.64 V versus Ag|AgCl|KCl(satd.) in pH 7.4. The assembled single cell using the ITO-coated glass plate showed the OCV of 0.72 V and the maximum power density of 3.1 µW cm−2. The maximum power per single cell was recorded at 21.5 µW by using the ITO-coated porous glass.
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 3.0).
Scifeed alert for new publications
Never miss any articles matching your research from any publisher- Get alerts for new papers matching your research
- Find out the new papers from selected authors
- Updated daily for 49'000+ journals and 6000+ publishers
- Define your Scifeed now
Share & Cite This Article
MDPI and ACS Style
Ayato, Y.; Matsuda, N. Evaluation of Biofuel Cells with Hemoglobin as Cathodic Electrocatalysts for Hydrogen Peroxide Reduction on Bare Indium-Tin-Oxide Electrodes. Energies 2014, 7, 1-12.
Related Articles
Article Metrics
Comments
[Return to top]
Energies
EISSN 1996-1073
Published by MDPI AG, Basel, Switzerland
RSS
E-Mail Table of Contents Alert