Carbon Nanotube-Cellulose Pellicle for Glucose Biofuel Cell

Carbon nanotube (CNT)-cellulose pellicle was developed to create a conductive CNT network on 20 μm nanostructured cellulose film. The flexible and electrically conductive film was prepared by the modification of bacterial nanocellulose pellicle with multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs). The composite film was further modified with redox enzymes including pyroquinoline quinone glucose dehydrogenase (PQQ-GDH) and bilirubin oxidase (BODx) functioning as the anodic and cathodic catalyst, respectively with glucose as the biofuel source. The enzyme functionalized MWCNT-cellulose based glucose/O2 biofuel cell system harnessed the biochemical energy of glucose via the oxidation of glucose and reduction of molecular oxygen to generate electrical power in the microwatt range. The biofuel cell system exhibited an open circuit voltage and power density of 470 mV and 46.25 μW/cm2, respectively, with a current density of 381 μA/cm2 in the presence of 25 mM glucose. At physiological glucose concentration, the biofuel cell exhibited an open circuit voltage and power density of 418 mV and 24.975 μW/cm2 respectively, with a current density of 293.75μA/cm2. As a result, we expect that this facile strategy to prepare flexible conductive bioelectrodes for the development of glucose biofuel cell system using synthesized bacterial nanocellulose crosslinked with MWCNTs and enzyme can be readily extended to diverse applications in enzymatic biofuel cell and biosensor technology.