Applications of conductive polymers in enzymatic biofuel cells: A mini-review

Abstract

Enzymatic biofuel cells (EBFCs) are an emerging power source to activate implantable and wearable medical devices. They feature ease-to-miniaturization, biocompatibility and self-sustentation. Versatile conductive polymers (CPs) with tunable compositions and properties can enable next-generation EBFCs. CPs play a critical role in bioelectrode fabrication by enabling enzyme immobilization and electron transfer mediation. Furthermore, CPs provide pseudocapacitance, electrochromism, electrochemical actuation and others, empowering EBFCs with additional functionalities. This mini-review aims to give a brief overview of the recent advance of i) CPs enabled bioelectrode fabrication through enzyme immobilization, ii) CPs enabled unique functional EBFCs such as self-sustained pulse generator, biosensing, drug release and actuator through their unique intrinsic properties. Finally, challenges are identified in this interdisciplinary filed, followed by perspectives on future developments.