NIRT: C-MEMS/C-NEMS for Miniature Biofuel Cells

提案编号：CBET-0709085主要研究者：Madou，MarcAffiliation： 联合加州尔湾提案标题：NIRT：用于微型生物燃料电池的C-MEMS/C-NEMS近年来，寻求能够自主为bioMEMS设备供电的替代电源，特别是那些适合体内应用的设备，如监测和药物输送，一直是科学家和工程师研究的重点，因为新电源将证明对该领域的发展至关重要。目前的电池仍然不是最佳的，并且经常存在与安全性、可靠性和可扩展性相关的缺点。植入式设备的理想电源应该利用个体体内存在的天然化合物，并将其用作燃料，以连续和可再生的方式产生电力，只要患者的生理功能保持稳定。生物燃料电池能够将生物化学能转化为电能，被认为是解决传统电池缺点的潜在方案，但尚未满足植入装置的功率密度和工作寿命要求。为此，我们建议整合基因工程催化蛋白和碳基三维（3D）MEMS/NEMS结构，以创建新的生物燃料电池。生物燃料电池电极表面，特别是分形电极阵列，与传统结构相比，呈现出显著增加的表面积，从而显著增加了生物催化剂负载能力以获得高功率吞吐量。基因工程酶固有地增加酶稳定性，从而增加生物燃料电池寿命。缩放的分形电极表面在将酶连接到生物燃料电池阳极中起作用，这增加了从酶到电极的电子转移效率，从而提高了生物燃料电池的整体性能。此外，C-MEMS/C-NEMS架构将使低成本碳基电极结构的可重复制造成为可能。我们预计，该项目将对MEMS，NEMS和bioMEMS社区产生影响。鉴于C-MEMS/NEMS技术可用于许多领域作为硅基器件的替代品，所提出的技术不仅应在能源相关领域（如生物燃料电池，微型电池和超级电容器）中找到应用，而且还应在其他领域（如生物传感，药物输送和致动器）中找到应用。C-MEMS/NEMS方法通过使用新材料和创新的制造技术，为开发工程师在设计和制造高表面积导电结构方面提供了前所未有的自由度。生物燃料电池的发展的基础上生产高纵横比三维碳结构在毫米至纳米范围内，通过整合？自上而下然后呢？自下而上处理方法和将生物组分与MEMS/NEMS结构相结合应该呈现出优于传统使用的Si基材料的优点。此外，这可能会开始在除了Si之外的材料的光刻图案化中的趋势。此外，拟议的技术也可能对其他行业和最终用户产生影响。例如，床旁诊断市场，包括跟踪血糖水平和输送胰岛素的植入式生物传感器，大约是70亿至80亿美元的市场，每年增长约10%。由于我们的生物燃料电池非常适合用于小型医疗设备，我们预计它们可能会在体内以及体外诊断和即时护理情况下产生影响。PI有一个良好的建立富有成效的合作，导致了大量的联合出版物，赠款，并建议研究生和博士后学生。该项目将进一步加强UCI的Madou博士，FIU的Wang博士和英国的Bachas和Daunert博士目前的跨学科和合作努力。拟议的合作研究将使我们能够联合收割机？自下而上生物技术与？自上而下微/纳米制造技术的生物MEMS/NEMS应用。这项工作将促进跨学科的互动，并将培养不同背景的学生，即，化学/材料工程、机械工程、电气工程和化学，在新型生物医学传感器件和高容量小型化电源的微/纳米制造的广泛领域。将举办研讨会和推广计划，以广泛传播这项工作的成果，并提高学生（本科生和K-12）和公众对bioMEMS和纳米生物技术的认识。此外，该项目扩大了妇女对多学科科学和工程的参与。

Proposal Number: CBET-0709085Principal Investigator: Madou, MarcAffiliation: U. California Irvine Proposal Title: NIRT: C-MEMS/C-NEMS for Miniature Biofuel CellsIn recent years, the quest for alternative sources that can autonomously power bioMEMS devices, especially those geared for in vivo applications, such as monitoring and drug delivery, has been the focus of research by scientists and engineers as new power sources will prove critical for the advancement of the field. Current batteries are still less than optimal and often present drawbacks related to safety, reliability and scalability. An ideal power source for implantable devices should take advantage of natural compounds present in the body of an individual and use them as fuel to produce power in a continuous and reproducible manner, as long as the patient's physiological functions remain steady. Biofuel cells, which are capable of converting biochemical energy into electrical energy, have been deemed as a potential solution to the drawbacks presented by conventional batteries, but the power density and operational lifetime requirements for implanted devices have not been met yet. To that end, we propose to integrate genetically engineered catalytic proteins and carbon-based 3 dimensional (3D) MEMS/NEMS structures to create new biofuel cells. The biofuel cell electrode surfaces, especially fractal electrode array, presents significantly increased surface area as compared to traditional architecture, increasing the biocatalyst loading capacity considerably for high power throughput. The genetically engineered enzymes inherently increase enzyme stability, consequently increasing biofeul cell lifetime. The scaled fractal electrode surface plays a role in wiring the enzymes to the biofuel cell anode, which increases the electron transfer efficiency from the enzyme to the electrode for an increase in the overall performance of the biofuel cells. Furthermore, C-MEMS/C-NEMS architectures will enable the reproducible fabrication of low cost carbon-based electrode structures.We envision that this project will have an impact on the MEMS, NEMS and bioMEMS communities. Given that C-MEMS/NEMS technologies can be used in a number of fields as a substitute for siliconbased devices, the proposed technology should find applications not only in energy-related areas, such as biofuel cells, micro-batteries and super capacitors, but also in others, such as biosensing, drug delivery and actuators. The C-MEMS/NEMS approach gives the development engineers unprecedented freedom in the design and manufacture of high surface area conductive structures through the use of new materials and innovative fabrication techniques. The development of biofuel cells based on producing high aspect ratio 3D carbon structures in the mm to nm range by integrating ?top-down? and ?bottom-up? processing approaches and combining biological components with MEMS/NEMS structures should present advantages over traditionally used Si-based materials. Moreover, this could start a trend in the lithographic patterning of materials other than Si. Further, the proposed technologies could also have an impact on other industries and on the end-users. For example, the point-of-care diagnostic market, including implantable biosensors that track blood glucose levels and deliver insulin, is approximately a $7 billion to $8 billion market growing at around 10% per annum. Since our biofuel cells are ideal for use in miniaturized medical devices, we expect that they could have an impact both in in vivo as well as in vitro diagnostics and point-of-care situations. The PIs have a well-established productive collaboration that has resulted in a good number of joint publications, grants, and advising of graduate and postdoctoral students. This project will further enhance the current interdisciplinary and collaborative effort of the groups of Dr. Madou at UCI, Dr. Wang at FIU and Drs. Bachas and Daunert at UK. The proposed collaborative research will allow us to combine ?bottom-up? biotechnology with ?top-down? micro/nanomanufacturing techniques for bio MEMS/NEMS applications. Such work will foster interdisciplinary interactions and will train students with different backgrounds, i.e., chemical/materials engineering, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, and chemistry, in the broad areas of micro/nano fabrication of novel biomedical sensing devices and high capacity miniaturized power sources. Workshops and outreach programs will be conducted to broadly disseminate the results of this work and raise awareness to students (undergraduates and K-12) and the general public in bioMEMS and Nanobiotechnology. Moreover, this project broadens the participation of women in multidisciplinary science and engineering.