Projects per year
Abstract
Wearable technologies can enable effective management of life-threatening diseases. In such systems, miniaturisation leads to minimally invasive and lightweight devices that, whilst ensuring safety, allow patients to perform their everyday activities freely. By generating direct and continuous energy from physiological fluids at body temperature, glucose fuel cells (GFCs) provide an attractive and easy-to-miniaturise power source alternative to lithium batteries. In this context, we explore for the first time the use of printed circuit boards (PCBs) for the development of integrated arrays of abiotic GFCs and successfully demonstrate their operation at physiological concentrations of glucose, both in a phosphate buffer and in synthetic interstitial fluid. Each GFC consists of a porous gold anode and a Pt/Au cathode in a single layer, and generates a maximum power of 14.3 μW cm−2 (in 6 mM of glucose), with a linear response to glucose within a concentration range that includes hypo- and hyper-glycaemic values. We also demonstrate linear power output scale-up by electrically connecting in parallel four GFCs on PCB. Considering the simplicity of the system architecture and the ease of integration provided by PCBs, our pioneering work paves the way for exciting opportunities in the field of self-powered wearable diagnostics.
Original language | English |
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Article number | 228530 |
Journal | Journal of Power Sources |
Volume | 472 |
Early online date | 9 Jul 2020 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 1 Oct 2020 |
Funding
The authors would like to thank: the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council ( EP/R022534/1 ) and the British Council /Newton Fund (UK-Turkey project 336872 ) for funding; the University of Bath to support Carla Gonzalez-Solino's PhD scholarship; Dearbhla Mcbay and Sivapathasundaram Sivaraya for helping with the Pt deposition onto PCB electrodes; Philip Fletcher, from the Material and Chemical Characterisation facilities (MC 2 ) at the University of Bath , for his help and assistance with the SEM and EDX characterisation; and David Chapman, from the Department of Electronic and Electrical Engineering at the University of Bath , for the electrical support for the power management system.
Keywords
- Bioenergy harvesting
- Glucose fuel cell
- Lab-on-PCB
- Power management system
- Self-powered sensor
- Wearable technologies
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment
- Energy Engineering and Power Technology
- Physical and Theoretical Chemistry
- Electrical and Electronic Engineering
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Dive into the research topics of 'Power generation and autonomous glucose detection with an integrated array of abiotic fuel cells on a printed circuit board'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.Projects
- 1 Finished
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Sand Pit - New Industrial Systems: Optimising Me Manufacturing Systems
Di Lorenzo, M. (PI)
Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council
1/02/18 → 31/03/21
Project: Research council
Profiles
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Mirella Di Lorenzo
- Department of Chemical Engineering - Professor
- Faculty of Engineering and Design - Associate Dean (International)
- Centre for Sustainable Chemical Technologies (CSCT)
- Water Innovation and Research Centre (WIRC)
- Institute of Sustainability and Climate Change
- Centre for Bioengineering & Biomedical Technologies (CBio)
- Bath Institute for the Augmented Human
- Centre of Excellence in Water-Based Early-Warning Systems for Health Protection (CWBE)
Person: Research & Teaching, Core staff
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Benjamin Metcalfe, FRSA
- Department of Electronic & Electrical Engineering - Head of Department
- UKRI CDT in Accountable, Responsible and Transparent AI
- Centre for Bioengineering & Biomedical Technologies (CBio)
- Bath Institute for the Augmented Human
- IAAPS: Propulsion and Mobility
- Centre of Excellence in Water-Based Early-Warning Systems for Health Protection (CWBE)
Person: Research & Teaching, Core staff, Affiliate staff
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Despina Moschou
- Department of Electronic & Electrical Engineering - Senior Lecturer
- Centre for Therapeutic Innovation
- Electronics Materials, Circuits & Systems Research Unit (EMaCS)
- Centre for Bioengineering & Biomedical Technologies (CBio)
- Bath Institute for the Augmented Human
- Centre of Excellence in Water-Based Early-Warning Systems for Health Protection (CWBE)
Person: Research & Teaching, Core staff