• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.60 no.4
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• pp.550-556
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• 2022

The performance of enzymatic fuel cells that convert chemical energy contained in various organic molecules such as sugar, alcohol, organic acids, and amino acids into electrical energy is greatly affected by the cathode as well as the anode. This study aimed to develop a laccase-based cathode with high performance. An enzyme composite composed of an laccase, redox mediator, and carbon nanotubes was immobilized on the surface of electrode in multiple layers, and the effect of the number of layers and the presence or absence of carbon nanotubes on electrode performance was investigated. As the number of layers of the enzyme-mediator (Lac-(PVI-Os-dCl)) on the electrode surface increased, the amount of reduction current generated at the electrode increased. The enzyme-carbon nanotube-mediator composite electrode (Lac-SWCNTs-(PVI-Os-dCl)) generated a current 1.7 times greater than that of the Lac-(PVI-Os-dCl). It was found that the largest amount of current (10.1±0.1 µA) was generated in the electrode composed of two layers of Lac-(PVI-Os-dCl) and two layers of Lac-SWCNTs-(PVI-Os-dCl) in the evaluation of electrodes with different ratio of Lac-SWCNTs-(PVI-Os-dCl) and Lac-(PVI-Os-dCl). The maximum power density of the cell using the cathode composed of a single layer of Lac-(PVI-Os-dCl) and the cell using the optimized cathode were 0.46±0.05 and 1.23±0.04 µW/cm², respectively. In this study, it was demonstrated that the performance of cathode and the enzymatic fuel cell using the same can be improved by optimizing the layers of composites composed of laccase, redox mediator, and carbon nanotubes on the electrode surface.

• Composites Research
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• v.35 no.6
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• pp.371-377
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• 2022

Triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) devices have generated a lot of interest in recent decades. TENG technology, which is one of the technologies for harvesting mechanical energy among the energy wasted in the environment, is obtained by the dual effect of electrostatic induction and triboelectric charging. Recently, a multilayer thin film stacking method (or layer-by-layer (LbL) self-assembly technique) is being considered as a method to improve the performance of TENG and apply it to new fields. This LbL assembly technology can not only improve the performance of TENG and successfully overcome the thickness problem in applications, but also present an inexpensive, environmentally friendly process and be used for large-scale and mass production. In this review, recent studies in the accomplishment of LbL-based materials for TENG devices are reviewed, and the potential for energy harvesting devices reviewed so far is checked. The advantages of the TENG device fabricated by applying the LbL technology are discussed, and finally, the direction and perspective of this fabrication technology for the implementation of various ultra-thin TENGs are briefly presented.