3D printed cathodes for implantable abiotic biofuel cells

Abstract

3D printing has recently triggered huge attention in several fields such as construction, artificial tissue engineering, food fabrication, wearable electronics, and electrochemical energy storage.This work investigates the fabrication of a 3D-printed abiotic cathode for implantable glucose/oxygen biofuel cells. The ink formulation was optimized to get printable ink with high electro-catalytic activity. Electrode macro porosity was screened in order to identify the better compromise between electrode density and electrochemical performance. A maximum current density of 260 μA/cm2 was obtained with cylindrical electrodes with linear mesh infill and a volumic infill rate of 40%.A complete biofuel cell was assembled using a 3D-printed abiotic cathode and an enzymatic anode in the form of a compressed pellet showing maximum power and current densities of 80 μW/cm2 and 320 μA/cm2, respectively. Moreover, the hybrid biofuel cell was implanted in the intraabdominal region of a rat for three months and after cell explantation, the abiotic cathode displayed a 50% decrease in the current density while the enzymatic anode did not display any residual activity.The 3D printed electrode displayed a 2–3.6 fold increase in current density when compared to homolog 2D electrodes.