Modeling the performance of enzymatic glucose fuel cells

Abstract

A mathematical model is developed to study the transient performance of a mediatorless membraneless enzymatic glucose fuel cell. The concentration profiles of glucose across the cell is seen to decrease across the cell with increasing time indicating the consumption of glucose in the enzyme layer. The concentration of hydrogen ions across the cell is seen to decrease with increasing time indicating the consumption of hydrogen ions at the cathode. The potential drop across the cell is found to play a role in the concentration profiles of hydrogen ions across the cell. The concentration of the enzyme is found to play an important role in determining the glucose concentration and hydrogen ion concentration across the cell. The anodic current density is found to be a strong function of the enzyme concentration. Modeling results are compared with polarization curves from experimental data and found to compare well with experimental data.