Recent developments in enzymatic biofuel cell: Towards implantable integrated micro-devices

Enzymatic biofuel cell (EBFC) is envisioned as a viable replacement of batteries to work as a power feeding source for self-powered devices and small-scale sensors. In order to be a viable power feeding device, an EBFC should have a higher power output and needs to be miniaturised for its integration into the existing micro-devices, thus making microfluidic EBFC an attractive option. Recent developments in the area of EBFCs have been discussed with the main emphasis on carbon nanotube-based direct electron transfer. This review also covers the research work on the utilisation of fuels like glucose and fructose for the EBFCs due to their advantages like non-volatility, non-toxicity and ready availability in the human blood. In addition, the in-vivo testing and integration of EBFCs into the microfluidic channel is briefly studied as well. This review concludes with some possible perspectives on the future research and applications of the EBFCs in microfluidic devices.