Electrical Energy Generation from a Novel Polypropylene Grafted Polyethylene Glycol Based Enzymatic Fuel Cell

A recently synthesized polypropylene-g-polyethylene glycol polymer was used for the first time as the working electrode of a fuel cell. Electrodes were prepared for unmediated and mediated enzymatic reactions including ferrocene as the mediator. Glucose oxidase and bilirubin oxidase was used as the anodic and cathodic enzymes for the working electrodes, respectively. The biofuel cell was operated using glucose as the fuel in a single-compartment and membrane-less cell. Electrochemical results demonstrated that the catalytic efficiency of the ferrocene based cathode was approximately 100-fold higher than that of an unmediated cathode. The mediated fuel cell electrodes yielded a power density of 65 nW/cm2 at a cell potential of +560 mV.