Electrodeposited thin-layer electrodes for the use in potentially implantable glucose fuel cells

We present a novel concept for the fabrication of electrodes to be used in thin-layer implantable glucose fuel cells employing platinum based materials as long-term stable abiotic catalysts. A highly porous anode for glucose oxidation is fabricated by a multiple alternation of electrodeposition of platinum-copper alloy and subsequent electrochemical extraction of the non-noble copper. To form a permeable oxygen reduction cathode, platinum black is deposited onto a gold-coated polycarbonate tracketch membrane (PC-TEM). Power densities of up to 3.1 muW cm^-2 are obtained for consequently assembled fuel cells. The novel electrode structures exhibit comparable performance to state of the art at significantly reduced thickness and facilitated fabrication.