ENZYMATIC MICROFLUIDIC FUEL CELLS: FROM ACTIVE TO PASSIVE POWER SOURCES

Abstract

This thesis presents the development and fabrication of microfluidic fuel cells for low power and portable applications. Specifically, biological fuel cells that use enzymes for glucose degradation. This work is divided in two sections depending on whether the fabricated devices are active, i. e. the reagents are supplied into the micro fuel cell by pumping (Chapters 2 and 3). If, on the contrary, the reagents flow without needing external mechanisms they are passive devices (Chapters 4 and 5)._x000D_ In the first chapter of the thesis the first approach in the development of glucose/O2 micro fuel cells was conducted in order to allow for the initial electrochemical measurements with enzymes. The microfluidic fuel cell was fabricated using a glass substrate in which gold electrodes were impressed using microfabrication techniques. On the other hand, soft lithography was used to fabricate the Y-shaped PDMS channels. This channel shape enabled to flow two solutions in parallel using a syringe pump. The enzymes were continuously flowing through the channel causing expensive experiments in addition to hindering its possible portable application. Thereby, the biocatalysts immobilization on the electrodes was next addressed in this thesis._x000D_ Chapter 2 presents the fabrication of a micro fuel cell with enzymes trapped on the electrode surfaces which lead to an effective use of the biocatalysts. The electrodes were fabricated using pyrolyzed resists and were successfully used for the first time in enzymatic microfluidic fuel cells of this kind. The fuel cell was formed by different layers of plastic laminated materials cut using a cutter plotter. This promotes a fast and inexpensive device fabrication which is compatible with large scale manufacturing. The microfluidic channel was also defined on this type of plastic materials, thus avoiding the long lithographic process related to the PDMS. Moreover, this Y-shaped channel allows to optimize the power obtained from the fuel cell when two different solution are pumped into the system. Therefore, the following aspect to be addressed was the biocatalyst immobilization over the electrodes of the micro fuel cell_x000D_ Chapter 4 describes the construction of a microfluidic fuel cell fabricated using paper substrates. The reagents flow through this paper (in a passive way) by capillary action. The fuel cell components were cut using a cutting plotter which allows fabricating devices much faster. The proper functioning of this paper-based microfluidic fuel cell was verified obtaining similar power values to those presented in Chapter 3 (were solution were pumped). From here, the work focused on bringing the paper fuel cell closer to the simplicity of lateral flow tests. The fuel cell was then adapted and successfully operated using a single solution, generating energy from a commercial drink._x000D_ Chapter 5 presents a microfluidic paper-based fuel cell smaller and more sophisticated than the one presented in previous chapter. A new combination of enzyme was tested which allowed to work with samples at neutral pH. Additionally, the compact size of the system opened the possibility to operate the paper fuel cell with physiological fluids, such as blood. Finally, it was demonstrated that was possible to have a fuel cell ready to fed devices demanding low energy. However, more efforts have to be done in the field to approach this fuel cell to a real world mainly due to the still limited lifetime of the enzymes.

Date of Award	20 Oct 2015
Original language	English
Supervisor	Francisco Javier del Campo Garcia (Director) & Maria Neus Sabaté Vizcarra (Director)