Enzyme orientation for direct electron transfer in an enzymatic fuel cell with alcohol oxidase and laccase electrodes

Abstract

A new full enzymatic fuel cell was built and characterized. Both enzymatic electrodes were molecularly oriented to enhance the direct electron transfer between the enzyme active site and the electrode surface. The anode consisted in immobilized alcohol oxidase on functionalized carbon nanotubes with 4-azidoaniline, which acts as active-site ligand to orientate the enzyme molecule. The cathode consisted of immobilized laccase on functionalized graphite electrode with 4-(2-aminoethyl) benzoic acid. The enzymatic fuel cell reaches 0.5 V at open circuit voltage with both, ethanol and methanol, while in short circuit the highest current intensity of 250 μA cm(-2) was obtained with methanol. Concerning the power density, the methanol was the best substrate reaching 60 μW cm(-2), while with ethanol 40 μW cm(-2) was obtained.

Keywords: Alcohol oxidase; Enzymatic electrodes; Fuel cell; Laccase; Molecular orientation.