Miniature biofuel cell as a potential power source for glucose-​sensing contact lenses

• A microscale membrane-​less biofuel cell, capable of generating elec. energy from human lachrymal liq., was developed by using the ascorbate and oxygen naturally present in tears as fuel and oxidant. The biodevice is based on three-​dimensional nanostructured gold electrodes covered with abiotic (conductive org. complex) and biol. (redox enzyme) materials functioning as efficient anodic and cathodic catalysts, resp. Three-​dimensional nanostructured electrodes were fabricated by modifying 100 μm gold wires with 17 nm gold nanoparticles, which were further modified with tetrathiafulvalene-​tetracyanoquinodimethane conducting complex to create the anode and with Myrothecium verrucaria bilirubin oxidase to create the biocathode. When operated in human tears, the biodevice exhibited the following characteristics: an open circuit voltage of 0.54 V, a maximal power d. of 3.1 μW cm-​2 at 0.25 V and 0.72 μW cm-​2 at 0.4 V, with a stable c.d. output of over 0.55 μA cm-​2 at 0.4 V for 6 h of continuous operation. These findings support the authors' proposition that an ascorbate​/oxygen biofuel cell could be a suitable power source for glucose-​sensing contact lenses to be used for continuous health monitoring by diabetes patients.

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