Improvement of Cathode Reaction in Enzymatic Fuel Cell

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Other Title
  • 酵素燃料電池におけるカソード反応の改善
  • コウソ ネンリョウ デンチ ニ オケル カソード ハンノウ ノ カイゼン

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Abstract

  Conventional fuel cells such as PEFC, MCFC, and the like, have big issues such as on cost, on fuel procurement, expensive catalysts, etc. At a more cost-effective viewpoint, the use of bio-fuel cells is recently gaining popularity because of the utilization of catalysts from enzymes produced by microbes by using sugar and alcohol carbon sources as a fuel. These carbon sources are easier to obtain than fuels like hydrogen and the enzymes can be mass-produced from microbes by genetic recombination technology. However, performances issues regarding power density, stability, and durability, among others, are worse compared to other fuel cells. Therefore, new technologies such as enhancing enzymatic activity by protein engineering, increasing the surface area of electrodes, and developments on mechanical engineering studies such as on oxygen and fuel supply methods, decreasing internal resistance, membrane material selection and separating methods, and stack technology are necessary for the improvement enzymatic fuel cells and the practical use of Bio fuel cells. This study shows enhanced reactiveness of a cathode in an enzymatic fuel cell through mechanical improvement. The influences of the electrode structure, the mediator/enzyme concentrations, and the oxygen supply method on the cell performance were evaluated using a half-cell. The influence of the electrode structure on cell performance was evaluated by applying Ketjenblack to the carbon paper electrode. As a result, the increase of the electrode surface area and the fixation of the enzyme/mediator to the electrode greatly improved the cathode reactiveness. Regarding the influence of mediator concentration on the cell performance, the mediator did not inhibit the enzyme reaction even when the concentration of the mediator on the enzyme was too high. The results of the influence on the performance by an increase in the dissolved oxygen by aeration of the solution and an increase in the oxygen concentration in the supplied gas were that the increase of the oxygen concentration in the solution improved the cathode diffusion polarization more than the forced convection.

Journal

  • Journal of Smart Processing

    Journal of Smart Processing 1 (2), 86-92, 2012-03-20

    Smart Processing Society for Materials, Environment & Energy (High Temperature Society of Japan)

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