Electricity from low-level H-2 in still air - an ultimate test for an oxygen tolerant hydrogenase

We demonstrate an extreme test of O-2 tolerance for a biological hydrogen-cycling catalyst: the generation of electricity from just 3% H-2 released into still, ambient air using an open fuel cell comprising an anode modified with the unusual hydrogenase from Ralstonia metallidurans CH34, that oxidizes trace H-2 in atmospheric O-2, connected via a film of electrolyte to a cathode modified with the fungal O-2 reductase, laccase.