Design principle and prototyping of a direct photosynthetic/metabolic biofuel cell (DPMFC)

A novel design of a photosynthetic/metabolic-based biofuel cell and its fabrication process have been explored and developed. Novel nanostructure and modified polyaniline have been used to enhance the performance of the new biofuel cell. The mechanism of the electron transfer process and the electro-catalysis of polyaniline have been investigated. The developed direct photosynthetic/metabolic biofuel cells (DPMFC) succeeded in generating a peak current density of more than 150 mu A cm(-2) with a 100 Omega load, 5.3 mu W cm(-2) of maximum power density (using prototype fuel cell). The benefits of DPMFC are that it can produce power in dark/light, is unharmful to living things and does not need a fuel supply.