This communication introduces a new flexible elastomeric composite film, which can directly convert the chemical energy of glucose into electricity. The fabrication process is simple, and no specific equipment is required. Notably, the liquid metal Galinstan is exploited with a two-fold objective: (i) Galinstan particles are mixed with polydimethylsiloxane to obtain a highly conductive porous thick film scaffold; (ii) the presence of Galinstan in the composite film enables the direct growth of highly catalytic gold structures. As a first proof of concept, we demonstrate that when immersed in a 20 mM glucose solution, a 5 mm-long, 5 mm-wide and 2 mm-thick sample can generate a volumetric power density up to 3.6 mW·cm−3 at 7 mA·cm−3 and 0.51 V without using any enzymes. © 2018 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
Including liquid metal into porous elastomeric films for flexible and enzyme-free glucose fuel cells: A preliminary evaluation
F. La Malfa;A. Qualtieri;M. De Vittorio
2018-01-01
Abstract
This communication introduces a new flexible elastomeric composite film, which can directly convert the chemical energy of glucose into electricity. The fabrication process is simple, and no specific equipment is required. Notably, the liquid metal Galinstan is exploited with a two-fold objective: (i) Galinstan particles are mixed with polydimethylsiloxane to obtain a highly conductive porous thick film scaffold; (ii) the presence of Galinstan in the composite film enables the direct growth of highly catalytic gold structures. As a first proof of concept, we demonstrate that when immersed in a 20 mM glucose solution, a 5 mm-long, 5 mm-wide and 2 mm-thick sample can generate a volumetric power density up to 3.6 mW·cm−3 at 7 mA·cm−3 and 0.51 V without using any enzymes. © 2018 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
