Glucose microfluidic fuel cell based on silver bimetallic selective catalysts for on-chip applications

Abstract

A glucose microfluidic fuel cell with outstanding performance at zero flow condition is presented. Polarization tests showed that bimetallic materials based in silver (AuAg/C as anode, PtAg/C as cathode) exhibit tolerance to byproducts and crossover effect. This allowed achieving one of the highest power densities reported for glucose fuel cells, up to a value of 630 μW cm−2 using two separated laminar flows of reactants. Furthermore, the tolerance to crossover effect caused by the selectivity of PtAg/C to oxygen reduction reaction in presence of glucose permitted using a single flow containing a mixture of glucose/oxygen, yielding a performance as high as 270 μW cm−2. Microfluidic fuel cell was further evaluated with a simulated body fluid solution that contained salts commonly present in the human blood plasma, reaching a power of 240 μW cm−2 at zero flow. These results envisage the incorporation of this fuel cell as a portable power source in Lab-on-a-Chip devices without the need of external pumps.