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

提案编号：CBET-0709085首席研究员：Madou，Marc从属关系：U.California Irvine提案标题：NIRT：C-MEMS/C-NEMS微型生物燃料电池近年来，寻找能够自动为生物MEMS设备供电的替代能源，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，因为新的电源将被证明对该领域的发展至关重要。目前的电池仍然不是最理想的，而且经常存在与安全性、可靠性和可扩展性有关的缺陷。植入式设备的理想电源应该利用人体内存在的天然化合物，并将它们用作燃料，以连续和可重复的方式产生电力，只要患者的生理功能保持稳定。生物燃料电池能够将生化能转化为电能，被认为是解决传统电池缺点的潜在解决方案，但植入设备的功率密度和工作寿命要求尚未得到满足。为此，我们建议将基因工程催化蛋白和碳基三维(3D)MEMS/NEMS结构相结合，以创造新的生物燃料电池。与传统结构相比，生物燃料电池电极表面，特别是分形电极阵列，具有更大的比表面积，从而大大提高了生物催化剂的负载能力，从而实现了高功率输出。基因工程酶内在地提高了酶的稳定性，从而延长了生物燃料细胞的寿命。规整的分形电极表面起到了将酶连接到生物燃料电池阳极的作用，从而提高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体系结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和生物MEMS社区产生影响。鉴于C-MEMS/NEMS技术可以作为硅基器件的替代品在许多领域使用，拟议的技术不仅应该应用于与能源相关的领域，如生物燃料电池、微型电池和超级电容器，还应该应用于其他领域，如生物传感、药物输送和执行器。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。基于自顶向下集成产生毫米到纳米范围的高深宽比三维碳结构的生物燃料电池的发展。然后呢？自下而上？与传统使用的硅基材料相比，加工方法和将生物成分与MEMS/NEMS结构相结合应该具有优势。此外，这可能会开启硅以外材料光刻图案化的趋势。此外，拟议的技术还可能对其他行业和最终用户产生影响。例如，医疗诊断市场，包括跟踪血糖水平和提供胰岛素的植入式生物传感器，大约是一个价值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微型医疗设备，我们预计它们在体内以及体外诊断和护理点情况下都会产生影响。私人投资机构建立了良好的富有成效的合作关系，产生了大量的联合出版物、补助金，并为研究生和博士后学生提供建议。该项目将进一步加强UCI的Madou博士、FIU的Wang博士以及英国的Bacas和Daunert博士等小组目前的跨学科和合作努力。提议的合作研究将允许我们将自下而上的？生物技术？自上而下？用于生物MEMS/NEMS应用的微/纳米制造技术。这些工作将促进学科间的互动，并将培训具有不同背景的学生，即化学/材料工程、机械工程、电气工程和化学，在微米/纳米制造新型生物医学传感设备和高容量微型电源的广泛领域。将举办讲习班和外展计划，广泛传播这项工作的成果，并提高学生(本科生和K-12)和普通公众对生物微机械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.