Carbon nanotube–hydroxyapatite nanocomposite: A novel platform for glucose/O2 biofuel cell

Abstract

This study demonstrates a novel carbon nanotubes-hydroxyapatite (CNTs–HA) nanocomposite-based compartment-less glucose/O2 biofuel cell (BFC) with the glucose oxidase (GOD) as the anodic biocatalysts and the laccase as the cathodic biocatalysts. CNTs–HA nanocomposite prepared by the self-assembly method via an aqueous solution reaction has been used as the co-immobilization matrix to incorporate biocatalysts, i.e. GOD and laccase successfully. Moreover, the three-dimensional configuration of the CNTs–HA films electrode would be advantageous to the glucose oxidation on the bioanode and O2 electroreduction on the biocathode of BFC. The maximum power density delivered by the assembled glucose/O2 BFC could reach 15.8μWcm−2 at a cell voltage of 0.28V with 10mM glucose. The results indicate that the CNTs–HA nanocomposite is believed to be very useful for the development of novel BFC device.