Evaluation of bacteria compatible microporous surfaces for biofuel cells

Prototypes of photosynthetic-bacterium micro-biofuel cells have been developed in our laboratory, in which electrons are extracted from bacterial cells while they are in contact with an electrode. The material and shape of the electrode should be electroconductive and biocompatible with a low electrical resistance and a high-specific surface area, therefore, pyrolyzed carbon was fabricated either to a flat or porous surface electrode using carbon microelectromechanical systems (C-MEMS). The developed electrodes were applied in micro-biofuel cells, and the porous electrode showed a fourfold higher performance than the flat one.