Enzyme Immobilization for Biological Fuel Cell Applications

ENZYME IMMOBILIZATION FOR BIOLOGICAL FUEL CELL APPLICATIONS 

Laboratorio de Biotecnologta, Facultad de Ingenieria, Universidad ORT Uruguay, Montevideo, Uruguay 

Universal Technology Corporation, Dayton, OH, USA Airbase Sciences Branch, Air Force Research Laboratory, Tyndall Air Force Base, FL, USA 

Enzymes are, by nature, soluble, which typically limits direct integration of proteins during deviee fabrieation. Numerous methods of enzyme immobilization, therefore, have been explored in order to anchor proteins in a scaffold, or at a surface, in a manner that retains the native three-dimensional strucmre and hence the native eatalytie aetivity [1]. Many of the bottlenecks that limit power density in enzymatie fuel eeUs (EFCs) are related to enzyme stability, electron transfer rate, and enzyme loading, all issues that can potentially be addressed by efficient enzyme immobilization. Efficient bioelectrocatalysis relies on controllable methods to immobilize biomolecules in a manner that optimizes orientation and interaction between protein and a transducer. Enzymes typically exhibit poor stability over continuous use. In biological fuel cells (BFCs), this leads to low power density over extended operational time. Retention of enzyme integrity (enzyme stabilization) is thus essential to maintain effective electron transfer [2]. Techniques for enzyme 

Enzymatic Fuel Cells From Fundamentals to Applications, First Edition. Edited by Heather R. Luckarift, Plamen Atanassov, and Glenn R. Johnson. 

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