Glucose oxidase immobilized biofuel cell flow channel geometry analysis by CFD simulations

Glucose oxidase was covalently immobilized to a porous electrode, which was developed by using ferrocenefunctionalized polyethyleneimine, multiwall carbon nanotubes, and carbon cloth for biofuel cell applications in our recent studies. The kinetics parameters (i.e. kM , Vmax) and other parameters required for the modeling study were determined experimentally. Fuel cell flow channel geometry was analyzed by a computational fluid dynamics modeling approach. Substrate flow rate and mass transfer for each proposed channel type were considered in the simulations. The results showed that serpentine type flow channels are advantageous over pin type or parallel flow channels to acquire sufficient performance from the immobilized enzyme electrode at lower substrate flow rates. On the other hand, a disadvantage of using serpentine type channels was observed as higher pressure drops. However, such pressure drops were accepted as reasonable for the considered flow rates for suitable biofuel cell performance.

PDF

___

1. Leech D, Kavanagh P, Schuhmann W. Enzymatic fuel cells: recent progress. Electrochimica Acta 2012; 84: 223-234. doi: 10.1016/j.electacta.2012.02.087
2. Ivanov I, Vidaković-Koch T, Sundmacher K. Recent advances in enzymatic fuel cells: experiments and modeling. Energies 2010; 3 (4): 803-846. doi: 10.3390/en3040803
3. Kavanagh P, Leech D. Mediated electron transfer in glucose oxidizing enzyme electrodes for application to biofuel cells: recent progress and perspectives. Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics 2013; 15: 4859-4869. doi: 10.1039/C3CP44617D
4. Ivnitski D, Branch B, Atanassov P, Apblett C. Glucose oxidase anode for biofuel cell based on direct electron transfer. Electrochemistry Communications 2006; 8 (2): 1204-1210. doi: 10.1016/j.elecom.2006.05.024
5. Rajendran L, Kirthiga M, Laborda E. Mathematical modeling of nonlinear reaction–diffusion processes in enzymatic biofuel cells. Current Opinion in Electrochemistry 2017; 1 (1):121-132. doi: 10.1016/j.coelec.2016.11.003
6. Kuwahara T, Ohta H, Kondo M, Shimomura M. Immobilization of glucose oxidase on carbon paper electrodes modified with conducting polymer and its application to a glucose fuel cell. Bioelectrochemistry 2008; 74 (1): 66-72. doi: 10.1016/j.bioelechem.2008.07.002
7. Bahar T. Preparation of a ferrocene mediated bioanode for biofuel cells by MWCNTs, polyethylenimine and glutaraldehyde: glucose oxidase immobilization and characterization. Asia Pacific Journal of Chemical Engineering 2016; 11 (6): 981-988. doi: 10.1002/apj.2032
8. Bahar T, Yazici MS. Immobilized glucose oxidase biofuel cell anode by MWCNTs, ferrocene and polyethylenimine: electrochemical performance. Asia Pacific Journal of Chemical Engineering 2018; 13 (1): e2149. doi: 10.1002/apj.2149
9. Gallaway JW. Mediated enzyme electrodes. In: Luckarift HR, Atanassov P, Johnson GR (editors). Enzymatic Fuel Cells: From Fundamentals to Applications. Hoboken, NJ, USA: Wiley, 2014, pp. 146-180.
10. Osman MH, Shah AA, Wills RGA, Walsh FC. Mathematical modelling of an enzymatic fuel cell with an airbreathing cathode. Electrochimica Acta 2013; 112: 386-393. doi: 10.1016/j.electacta.2013.08.044
11. Osman MH, Shah AA , Wills RGA. Detailed mathematical model of an enzymatic fuel cell. Journal of the Electrochemical Society 2013; 160 (2): F806-F814. doi: 10.1149/1.059308jes
12. Sakai H, Nakagawa, T, Tokita Y, Hatazawa T, Ikeda T et al. High-power glucose/oxygen biofuel cell operating under quiescent conditions. Energy & Environmental Science 2009; 2: 133-139. doi: 10.1039/B809841G
13. Anandan V, Yang X, Kim E, Rao Y, Zhang G. Role of reaction kinetics and mass transport in glucose sensing with nanopillar array electrodes. Journal of Biological Engineering 2007; 1: 1-10. doi: 10.1186/1754-1611-1-5
14. Godino N, Borrise X, Munoz FX, Campo FJ, Compton R. Mass transport to nanoelectrode arrays and limitations of diffusion domain approach: theory and experiment. Journal of Physical Chemistry C 2009; 113 (25): 11119-11125. doi: 10.1021/jp9031354
15. Song Y, Penmatsa V, Wang C. Modeling and simulation of enzymatic biofuel cells with three-dimensional microelectrodes. Energies 2014; 7 (7): 4694-4709. doi: 10.3390/en7074694
16. Tamaki T, Ito T, Yamaguchi T. Modelling of reaction and diffusion processes in a high-surface-area biofuel cell electrode made of redox polymer-grafted carbon. Fuel Cells 2009; 9 (1): 37-43. doi: 10.1002/fuce.200800028
17. Chan DS, Dai DJ, Wu HS. Dynamic modeling of anode function in enzyme-based biofuel cells using high mediator concentration. Energies 2012; 5 (1): 2524-2544. doi: 10.3390/en5072524
18. Saranya J, Rajendran L, Wang L, Fernandez C. A new mathematical modelling using homotopy perturbation method to solve nonlinear equations in enzymatic glucose fuel cells. Chemical Physics Letters 2016; 662: 317-326. doi: 10.1016/j.cplett.2016.09.056
19. Rubin VZ. Current-voltage modeling of the enzymatic glucose fuel cells. Advances in Chemical Engineering and Science 2015; 5 (2): 164-172. doi: 10.4236/aces.2015.52018
20. Chuang CL, Wang YJ, Lan HL. Amperometric glucose sensors based on ferrocene-containing B-polyethylenimine and immobilized glucose oxidase. Analytica Chimica Acta 1997; 353 (1): 37-44. doi: 10.1016/S0003-2670(97)00372-3
21. Bahar T. Clinoptilolite particles as a carrier for biocatalysts immobilization: invertase immobilization and characterization. Asia Pacific Journal of Chemical Engineering 2014; 9 (1): 31-38. doi: 10.1002/apj.1743
22. Ohnishi ST, Barr JK. A simplified method of quantitating protein using the biuret and phenol reagents. Analytical Biochemistry 1978; 86 (1): 193-200. doi: 10.1016/0003-2697(78)90334-2
23. Merchant SA, Meredith MT, Tran TO, Brunski DB, Johnson MB et al. Effect of mediator spacing on electrochemical and enzymatic response of ferrocene redox polymers. Journal of Physical Chemistry C 2010; 114 (26): 11627-11634. doi: 10.1021/jp911188r
24. Kjeang E, Sinton D, Harrington DA. Strategic enzyme patterning for microfluidic biofuel cells. Journal of Power Sources 2006; 158 (1): 1-12. doi: 10.1016/j.jpowsour.2005.07.092
25. Patankar, S. Numerical Heat Transfer and Fluid Flow. Boca Raton, FL, USA: CRC Press, 1980.