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Vera-Estrada IL, Olivares-Ramírez JM, Rodríguez-Reséndiz J, Dector A, Mendiola-Santibañez JD, Amaya-Cruz DM, Sosa-Domínguez A, Ortega-Díaz D, Dector D, Ovando-Medina VM, Antonio-Carmona ID. Digital Pregnancy Test Powered by an Air-Breathing Paper-Based Microfluidic Fuel Cell Stack Using Human Urine as Fuel. SENSORS (BASEL, SWITZERLAND) 2022; 22:6641. [PMID: 36081100 PMCID: PMC9460395 DOI: 10.3390/s22176641] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/01/2022] [Revised: 07/28/2022] [Accepted: 08/24/2022] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
The direct integration of paper-based microfluidic fuel cells (μFC's) toward creating autonomous lateral flow assays has attracted attention. Here, we show that an air-breathing paper-based μFC could be used as a power supply in pregnancy tests by oxidizing the human urine used for the diagnosis. We present an air-breathing paper-based μFC connected to a pregnancy test, and for the first time, as far as we know, it is powered by human urine without needing any external electrolyte. It uses TiO2-Ni as anode and Pt/C as cathode; the performance shows a maximum value of voltage and current and power densities of ∼0.96 V, 1.00 mA cm-2, and 0.23 mW cm-2, respectively. Furthermore, we present a simple design of a paper-based μFC's stack powered with urine that shows a maximum voltage and maximum current and power densities of ∼1.89 V, 2.77 mA cm-2 and 1.38 mW cm-2, respectively, which powers the display of a pregnancy test allowing to see the analysis results.
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Affiliation(s)
- Irma Lucia Vera-Estrada
- Departamento de Energías Renovables, Universidad Tecnológica de San Juan del Río, Av. La Palma No 125 Vista Hermosa, San Juan del Río 76800, Mexico
| | - Juan Manuel Olivares-Ramírez
- Departamento de Energías Renovables, Universidad Tecnológica de San Juan del Río, Av. La Palma No 125 Vista Hermosa, San Juan del Río 76800, Mexico
| | | | - Andrés Dector
- Departamento de Energías Renovables, Conacyt-Universidad Tecnológica de San Juan del Río, Av. La Palma No 125 Vista Hermosa, San Juan del Río 76800, Mexico
| | | | - Diana María Amaya-Cruz
- Facultad de Ingeniería, Universidad Autónoma de Querétaro, Campus Amealco, Camacho Guzmán, Amealco 76894, Mexico
| | - Adrían Sosa-Domínguez
- Facultad de Química, Universidad Autónoma de Querétaro, Campus Universitario, Cerro de las Campanas S/N-Edificio 5, Centro Universitario, Querétaro 76010, Mexico
| | - David Ortega-Díaz
- Departamento de Energías Renovables, Universidad Tecnológica de San Juan del Río, Av. La Palma No 125 Vista Hermosa, San Juan del Río 76800, Mexico
| | - Diana Dector
- Departamento de Energías Renovables, Universidad Tecnológica de San Juan del Río, Av. La Palma No 125 Vista Hermosa, San Juan del Río 76800, Mexico
| | - Victor Manuel Ovando-Medina
- Facultad de Ingeniería Química, Universidad Autónoma de San Luis Potosí, Coordinación Académica Región Altiplano (COARA), Matehuala 78700, Mexico
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Ibrahim OA, Navarro-Segarra M, Sadeghi P, Sabaté N, Esquivel JP, Kjeang E. Microfluidics for Electrochemical Energy Conversion. Chem Rev 2022; 122:7236-7266. [PMID: 34995463 DOI: 10.1021/acs.chemrev.1c00499] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/18/2022]
Abstract
Electrochemical energy conversion is an important supplement for storage and on-demand use of renewable energy. In this regard, microfluidics offers prospects to raise the efficiency and rate of electrochemical energy conversion through enhanced mass transport, flexible cell design, and ability to eliminate the physical ion-exchange membrane, an essential yet costly element in conventional electrochemical cells. Since the 2002 invention of the microfluidic fuel cell, the research field of microfluidics for electrochemical energy conversion has expanded into a great variety of cell designs, fabrication techniques, and device functions with a wide range of utility and applications. The present review aims to comprehensively synthesize the best practices in this field over the past 20 years. The underlying fundamentals and research methods are first summarized, followed by a complete assessment of all research contributions wherein microfluidics was proactively utilized to facilitate energy conversion in conjunction with electrochemical cells, such as fuel cells, flow batteries, electrolysis cells, hybrid cells, and photoelectrochemical cells. Moreover, emerging technologies and analytical tools enabled by microfluidics are also discussed. Lastly, opportunities for future research directions and technology advances are proposed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Omar A Ibrahim
- Fuel Cell Research Laboratory, School of Mechatronic Systems Engineering, Simon Fraser University, V3T 0A3 Surrey, British Columbia Canada.,Fuelium S.L., Edifici Eureka, Av. Can Domènech S/N, 08193 Bellaterra, Barcelona Spain
| | - Marina Navarro-Segarra
- Instituto de Microelectrónica de Barcelona, IMB-CNM (CSIC), C/dels Til·lers sn, Campus UAB, 08193 Bellaterra Barcelona Spain
| | - Pardis Sadeghi
- Fuel Cell Research Laboratory, School of Mechatronic Systems Engineering, Simon Fraser University, V3T 0A3 Surrey, British Columbia Canada
| | - Neus Sabaté
- Instituto de Microelectrónica de Barcelona, IMB-CNM (CSIC), C/dels Til·lers sn, Campus UAB, 08193 Bellaterra Barcelona Spain.,Catalan Institution for Research and Advanced Studies (ICREA), Passeig Lluís Companys 23, 08010 Barcelona, Spain
| | - Juan Pablo Esquivel
- Instituto de Microelectrónica de Barcelona, IMB-CNM (CSIC), C/dels Til·lers sn, Campus UAB, 08193 Bellaterra Barcelona Spain.,BCMaterials, Basque Centre for Materials, Applications and Nanostructures, UPV/EHU Science Park, 48940 Leioa, Spain.,IKERBASQUE, Basque Foundation for Science, 48009 Bilbao, Spain
| | - Erik Kjeang
- Fuel Cell Research Laboratory, School of Mechatronic Systems Engineering, Simon Fraser University, V3T 0A3 Surrey, British Columbia Canada
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Kim M, Kwon Y, Ahn Y. Paper-based mediatorless enzymatic microfluidic biofuel cells. Biosens Bioelectron 2021; 190:113391. [PMID: 34118761 DOI: 10.1016/j.bios.2021.113391] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/23/2021] [Revised: 05/27/2021] [Accepted: 05/29/2021] [Indexed: 12/21/2022]
Abstract
In this study, eco-friendly and disposable paper-based membraneless microfluidic enzymatic fuel cells (EFCs) were developed without any mediators to reduce the toxicity and cost of EFCs. Glucose oxidase and laccase were immobilized on multi-walled carbon nanotube electrodes to catalyze the redox reaction of glucose and oxygen. Micromachining techniques well-suited for mass production were used to precisely fabricate micro-scale Y-shaped and cross-shaped EFCs. Experimental measurements showed that the concentration of glucose in the fuel solution affects the cell performance, which occurs because the flow speed of the fuel stream decreases as the concentration of glucose increases. The highest performance of power density (104.2 ± 3.35 μW cm-2) and current density (615.6 ± 3.14 μA cm-2) were obtained with the Y-shaped channel configuration at a glucose concentration of 100 mM. This performance is the best of all paper-based single EFCs reported to date. The new paper-based co-laminar flow mediatorless EFC exhibits strong potential to power miniaturized and portable on-site diagnostic devices.
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Affiliation(s)
- Myunghun Kim
- Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, BK21 FOUR ERICA-ACE Center, Hanyang University, 55 Hanyangdaehak-ro, Sangnok-gu, Ansan, Gyeonggi-do, 15588, South Korea
| | - Youngju Kwon
- Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, BK21 FOUR ERICA-ACE Center, Hanyang University, 55 Hanyangdaehak-ro, Sangnok-gu, Ansan, Gyeonggi-do, 15588, South Korea
| | - Yoomin Ahn
- Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, BK21 FOUR ERICA-ACE Center, Hanyang University, 55 Hanyangdaehak-ro, Sangnok-gu, Ansan, Gyeonggi-do, 15588, South Korea.
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Abstract
Sugar has the potential to create enough energy to power mobile electronics. Various sugar-powered fuel cells have been reported, however, most of them used pure glucose as substrate and enzymes/noble metals as catalysts. In this work, an alkaline fuel cell with cheap catalysts were constructed, and different sweet drinks were used as fuels for power generation. The influence of different substrates on the electrochemical performance was characterized under the controlled conditions. Our experimental results showed that the fuel cell fueled with carbonated soft drinks had the best performance under the conditions of 99.95 g/L chemical oxygen demand and 3M KOH. The power densities of the fuel cell fueled with different substrates decreased in the order of Pepsi (33.41 W/m2) > Sprite (28.38 W/m2) > apple juice (20.63 W/m2) > Coca (16.31 W/m2) > pear juice (15.31 W/m2) > orange juice (12.75 W/m2), which was consistent with linear sweep voltammetry (LSV) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) analysis. This is the first report on alkaline fuel cell (AFC) performance using different sweet drinks as substrate. These values are more than 10 times higher than those of reported microbial fuel cells. Our findings demonstrated that sweet drinks fueled alkaline fuel cells can be a promising energy source for low-power electronics.
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