Biological fuel cell microfluidic

Miniaturized fuel cells are an attractive candidate for next-generation portable power sources. A microfluidic fuel cell is defined as a fuel cell with smaU-scale channels, typically submiUimeter in height, in which reactant delivery/removal and electrochemical energy conversion take place. This type of fuel cell can be incorporated with both metalhc and biological catalysts and normally operates without a physical barrier between anode and cathode compartments. Micromachined fuel cells employing ion-conducting membranes are not covered in this entry. 

The present entry describes how microfluidics and fuel cell technologies can be paired to develop alternative, inexpensive microfluidic fuel cell devices employing both metallic and biological catalysts and how practical fuel cell operation can be achieved without ion-conducting membranes. 

Given the recent emergence of microfluidic fuel ceU architectures, only a few microfluidic biofuel cells with biological catalysts have been reported to date. The first microfluidic biofuel cell with enzymes immobilized in a microchannel was introduced by Moore et al. [8]. Alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) enzymes were immobilized onto a carbon microelectrode placed in a 100 pm deep microchannel. A thin film of methylene green, which is an... 

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