Recoverable hybrid enzymatic biofuel cell with molecular oxygen-independence.

Enzymatic biofuel cells (EBFCs) have drawn great attentions because of its potential in energy conversion. However, designing of highly efficient EBFCs which can adapt to the anaerobic system is still a great challenge. In this study, we propose a novel hybrid enzymatic biofuel cell (HEBFC) which was fabricated by a glucose dehydrogenase modified bioanode and a solid-state silver oxide/silver (Ag2O/Ag) cathode. The as-assembled HEBFC exhibited an open circuit potential of 0.59V and a maximum power output of 0.281mWcm(-2) at 0.34V in air saturated buffer. Especially, due to the introduction of Ag2O/Ag, our HEBFC could also operate under anaerobic condition, while the maximum power output would reach to 0.275mWcm(-2) at 0.34V. Furthermore, our HEBFC had stable cycle operation and could keep high power output for a certain time as the result of the regeneration of Ag2O. Our work provides a new concept to develop EBFCs for efficient energy conversion in the future.