Electrocatalysts for Glucose Electrooxidation Reaction: A Review

Abstract

The up-to-date research as far as it concerns the abiotic direct glucose fuel cells (DGFCs) is summarized and discussed in the present review. Platinum and gold-based as well as Raney-type electrocatalysts are among the most studied ones. In abiotically (non-implantable) DGFCs, unsupported Pt and PtRuO2, exhibited good activity (power density ~20 mW cm−2), at room temperature and at atmospheric pressure. On the other hand, Au-based electrocatalysts adopted in a DGFC resulted in power densities up to ca. 5 mW cm−2, exhibiting however high poisoning tolerance. Recently, after the introduction of alkaline membranes into the market, Pd-based electrocatalysts have attracted the attention of the research community because of their enhanced activity in alkaline media. However, there are still very few investigations where membrane electrode assemblies with palladium electrocatalysts have been applied. Moreover, Raney-type electrocatalysts, not yet examined for other fuels in direct polymer electrolyte fuel cells, are considered to be the most appropriate for implantable abiotic DGFCs. A novel implantable fuel cell in a human brain performed with 3.4 × 10−3 μW power for 10 h adopting Raney-type electrocatalysts.