Control of Spatial Organization of Electrospun Fibers in a Carbon Felt for Enhanced Bioelectrode Performance

Electrospun carbon fiber electrodes showing high performance for bio‐electrochemical applications were developed. Easy to handle and manipulate aligned and unaligned carbon fibers with a mean diameter of (330±50) nm were synthesized through an electrospinning technique. Electrical resistivity measurements, which are a challenge that has not been much explored in the case of fibrous materials, were realized through two different techniques, and a study of contact resistances between electrical clips and the carbon fibers was performed. To target the creation of a bioelectrode, carbon fibers were characterized electrochemically by cyclic voltammetry. After being modified with the enzyme laccase, its response to oxygen electroreduction was studied. Aligned fibers present a cathodic current that is 30 % higher than that of randomly distributed fibers. Overall, the results show that aligned fibers are more appropriate for bio‐electrochemical applications when exploiting anisotropic spatial organization. How does it feel? Electrospun carbon felts were synthesized with either aligned or randomly distributed fibers (see picture). Resistivity measurements were realized to try to establish a normalized procedure for fibrous materials. Felts were modified with the enzyme laccase and tested towards the oxygen reduction reaction, which is typical for the cathode part of a biofuel cell.