Power Harvesting from Human Serum in Buckypaper-Based Enzymatic Biofuel Cell

The requirement for a miniature, high density, long life, and rechargeable power source is common to a vast majority of microsystems, including the implantable devices for medical applications. A model biofuel cell system operating in human serum has been studied for future applications of biomedical and implantable medical devices. Anodic and cathodic electrodes were made of carbon nanotube-buckypaper modified with PQQ-dependent glucose dehydrogenase and laccase, respectively. Modified electrodes were characterized electrochemically and assembled in a biofuel cell setup. Power density of 16.12 mu W cm(-2) was achieved in human serum for lower than physiological glucose concentrations. Increasing the glucose concentration and biofuel cell temperature caused an increase in power output leading up to 49.16 mu W cm(-2).