Vitamin-Mediated Glucose Flow Cell for Sustainable Power Generation

Glucose as biofuel asserts unique advantages, including low-temperature electricity generation, easy accessibility, low storage cost, and flexible application for on-demand power generation. Riboflavin, also known as Vitamin B₂, is a critical component in biological systems and is involved in many metabolic reactions as enzyme cofactors. Inspired by these metabolic reactions, we demonstrate a flow cell for electrochemical glucose oxidation reaction (GOR), using riboflavin as an environmentally friendly mediator to replace traditional noble metal catalysts. When paired with O₂ under alkaline conditions, the glucose flow cell achieves a peak power density of 13 mW/cm², 20 times higher than the previous report in alkaline conditions. The demonstrated vitamin-mediated engineered biofuel flow cell delivered high peak power density at room temperature/ambient pressure while maintaining low cost and environmental friendliness, eliminating the need for a noble metal catalyst.. Authors: Shon, Jong-Hwa [Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)]; Feng, Ruozhu [Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)] (ORCID:0000000314273571); Kim, Soowhan [Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)]; Yan, Litao [Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)]; Shao, Yuyan [Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)] (ORCID:0000000157352670). DOE Contract: AC02-06CH11357; AC05-76RL01830. Subjects: electrolytes; energy storage; flow cell