Alcohol Fuel Cell Goes Micro

There’s a lot of energy in ethanol, which is non-toxic and can be made cheaply from corn.

Researchers from Saint Louis University, who earlier this year developed a fuel cell using enzymes to generate electricity from ethanol, have built a microchip-based version of the device.

The trick to constructing the biofuel cell was creating a sheltered environment for the enzymes, which are fairly sensitive. The researchers coated the carbon anode, or positive electrode, of the fuel cell with polymethylene green, an electocatalyst, then added a nafion membrane containing the immobilized enzyme alcohol dehydrogenase.