Abstract
This review focuses on the overview of microbial amperometric biosensors and microbial biofuel cells (MFC) and shows how very similar principles are applied for the design of both types of these bioelectronics-based devices. Most microorganism-based amperometric biosensors show poor specificity, but this drawback can be exploited in the design of microbial biofuel cells because this enables them to consume wider range of chemical fuels. The efficiency of the charge transfer is among the most challenging and critical issues during the development of any kind of biofuel cell. In most cases, particular redox mediators and nanomaterials are applied for the facilitation of charge transfer from applied biomaterials towards biofuel cell electrodes. Some improvements in charge transfer efficiency can be achieved by the application of conducting polymers (CPs), which can be used for the immobilization of enzymes and in some particular cases even for the facilitation of charge transfer. In this review, charge transfer pathways and mechanisms, which are suitable for the design of biosensors and in biofuel cells, are discussed. Modification methods of the cell-wall/membrane by conducting polymers in order to enhance charge transfer efficiency of microorganisms, which can be potentially applied in the design of microbial biofuel cells, are outlined. The biocompatibility-related aspects of conducting polymers with microorganisms are summarized.
Highlights
A biofuel cell (BFC) is a bioelectrochemical system or device, which can produce electricity from organic materials by enzymatic catalysis or metabolic processes running in bacteria and/or other living cells
The microorganism-based biosensors show rather poor specificity and slow response because charge transfer from the cell to the electrode is delayed due to natural cell barriers and the cells are affected by the wide variety of chemicals
The power produced in the microbial biofuel cells (MFC) is still rather low for practical applications, the need for MFC performance improvements is of great importance
Summary
A biofuel cell (BFC) is a bioelectrochemical system or device, which can produce electricity from organic materials by enzymatic catalysis or metabolic processes running in bacteria and/or other living cells. Microorganism-driven biofuel cells, which are often called microbial biofuel cells (MFCs), are the most prospective because microorganisms are capable of reproducing themselves and there is no need for the purification of enzymes [1,2,3,4,5], which is otherwise a very important and costly procedure required for the development of enzymatic biofuel cells (EBFCs) [6]. The most commonly microorganisms used in direct electron transfer based biosensors and fuel cells are Shewanella putrefaciens, Geobacter sulfurreducens, Aeromonas hydrophila, Geobacter metallic reducens and Rhodoferax ferrireducens Their catalytic activity and electron transfer route have been relatively well investigated; it is thought that physical contact between electrode and outer-membrane cytochromes or/and conductive pili of microorganisms can enable direct ‘wiring’. The aim of this review is to overview common principles that are applied in the development of amperometric biosensors, which can be adapted for the design of biofuel cells
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