Photoelectrochemically-assisted biofuel cell constructed by redox complex and g-C3N4 coated MWCNT bioanode

Herein, we report a membraneless glucose and air photoelectrochemical biofuel cell (PBFC) with a visible light assisted photobioanode. Flavin adenine dinucleotide dependent glucose dehydrogenase (FADGDH) was immobilized on the combined photobioanode for the visible light assisted glucose oxidation (GCE|MWCNT|g-C3N4|Ru-complex|FADGDH) with a quinone mediated electron transfer. Bilirubine oxidase (BOx) immobilized on MWCNT coated GCE (GCE|BOx) was used as the cathode with direct electron transfer (DET). An improvement of biocatalytic oxidation current was observed by 6.2% due in part to the light-driven electron-transfer. The large oxidation currents are probably owing to the good contacting of the immobilized enzymes with the electrode material and the utilization of light assisted process. Under the visible light, the photobioanode shows an anodic photocurrent of 1.95 μA cm2 at attractively low potentials viz. −0.4 vs Ag/AgCl. The lower-lying conduction band of g-C3N4 as compared to Ru-complexes decreases the rate of hole and electron recombination and enhances the charge transportation. The bioanode shows maximum current density for glucose oxidation up to 6.78 μA cm−2 at 0.2 V vs Ag/AgCl at pH:7. The performance of three promising Ru-complexes differing in chemical and redox properties were compared as electron mediators for FADGDH. Upon illumination, the PBFC delivered a maximum power density of 28.5 ± 0.10 μW cm−2 at a cell voltage of +0.4 V with an open circuit voltage of 0.64 V. •A stable light assisted biofuel cell was constructed using Ru-complexes via π−π interaction.•Flavin adenine dinucleotide dependent glucose dehydrogenase (FADGDH) was used at the bioanode.•Anodic photocurrents were observed at negative potentials.•[Ru(PLQ)(bpy)2](PF6)2 yielded the best photoelectrocatalytic performance.•Ru-complex led to the biofuel cell power improvement to some extent.