Performance evaluation of glucose oxidation reaction using biocatalysts adopting different quinone derivatives and their utilization in enzymatic biofuel cells

Glucose oxidase (GOx) and four different quinone derivatives (p-benzoquinone (BQ), naphthoquinone (NQ), anthraquinone (AQ) and 1,5-Dihydroxyanthraquinone (15DHAQ)) based biocomposites were embedded in polyethyleneimine (PEI) and then immobilized on carbon nanotube (CNT) substrate (CNT/PEI/Quinone/GOx). These catalysts were then used as the anodic biocatalysts for the enzymatic biofuel cell (EBC). According to the performance investigations of catalysts, the catalytic activity for glucose oxidation reaction (GOR) representing the electron transfer rate between GOx and glucose fuel is mostly enhanced in CNT/PEI/NQ/GOx. It is because two benzene rings of NQ play a role in attracting and releasing electrons effectively, increasing the catalytic activity for GOR, while other quinones have problems about attracting electrons (AQ and 15DHAQ) and wrong position of the reactive site for electron transfer (BQ). Excellent electron transfer rate constant (1.1 s ^-1 ) and Michaelis-Menten constant (0.99mM) are outstanding evidence for that. Furthermore, when the catalyst is utilized for EBC, high power density (57.4 μWcm ^-2 ) and high open circuit voltage (0.64 V) are accomplished.