Laccase electrodes based on the combination of single-walled carbon nanotubes and redox layered double hydroxides: Towards the development of biocathode for biofuel cells

Abstract

Single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNT) were combined with layered double hydroxides (LDH) intercalated with 2,2′-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonate) diammonium salt [ZnCr-ABTS] to entrap and electrically connect laccase enzyme. The resulting laccase electrodes exhibited an electro-enzymatic activity for O 2 reduction. To improve this electrocatalytic activity, varying SWCNT quantities and loading methods were tested to optimize the configuration of the laccase electrodes. Furthermore, the resulting bioelectrode was successfully used as a biocathode for the elaboration of a membrane-less glucose/air biofuel cell. In 0.1 M phosphate buffer (PBS) of pH 6.0, containing glucose (5 mM) under ambient conditions, the assembled biofuel cell yielded a maximum power density of 18 μW cm −2 at a cell voltage of 0.3 V whereas this power decreased to 8.3 μW cm −2 for a biofuel cell based on the identical biocathode setup without SWCNT.