Nano-structure control of enzyme electrode toward high performance biofuel cell

酶生物燃料电池将葡萄糖和乙醇等燃料的化学能转化为电能。一个需要解决的重要问题是它们的低电流密度。由氧化还原聚合物接枝的炭黑制成的高比表面积三维酶电极具有获得高电流密度的潜力。然而，应减少酶在炭黑上吸附时的失活。因此，用氧化还原聚合物和甲基磺酸基团对炭黑进行双重改性，不仅使其表面亲水，而且还用于酶电极中的质子传导，这是未来全固体型、高电流密度生物燃料电池所需的。

Enzymatic biofuel cells convert the chemical energy of fuels like glucose and ethanol into electricity. One important issue to be addressed is their low current density. A high-surface-area three-dimensional enzyme electrode made of redox-polymer-grafted carbon black has a potential to achieve high current density. However, deactivation of enzymes upon adsorption on carbon black should be decreased. Thus, carbon black was doubly modified with redox polymer and methyl-sulfonic acid group that was used not only to make the surface hydrophilic but also for proton conduction in the enzyme electrodes, which is required in the future all solid-type, high-current-density biofuel cells.