title: A microfluidic direct formate fuel cell on paper.
abstract: We describe the first direct formate fuel cell on a paper microfluidic platform. In traditional membrane-less microfluidic fuel cells (MFCs), external pumping consumes power produced by the fuel cell in order to maintain co-laminar flow of the anode stream and oxidant stream to prevent mixing. However, in paper microfluidics, capillary action drives flow while minimizing stream mixing. In this work, we demonstrate a paper MFC that uses formate and hydrogen peroxide as the anode fuel and cathode oxidant, respectively. Using these materials we achieve a maximum power density of nearly 2.5 mW/mg Pd. In a series configuration, our MFC achieves an open circuit voltage just over 1 V, and in a parallel configuration, short circuit of 20 mA absolute current. We also demonstrate that the MFC does not require continuous flow of fuel and oxidant to produce power. We found that we can pre-saturate the materials on the paper, stop the electrolyte flow, and still produce approximately 0.5 V for 15 min. This type of paper MFC has potential applications in point-of-care diagnostic devices and other electrochemical sensors.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, California State University, Fullerton, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Thomas S
authors.initials: TS
authors.lastname: Copenhaver
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, California State University, Fullerton, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Krutarth H
authors.initials: KH
authors.lastname: Purohit
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, California State University, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Kryls
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Domalaon
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, California State University, Fullerton, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Linda
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Pham
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, California State University, Fullerton, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Brianna J
authors.initials: BJ
authors.lastname: Burgess
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, California State University, Fullerton, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Natalie
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Manorothkul
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, California State University, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Vicente
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Galvan
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, California State University, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Samantha
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sotez
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, California State University, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Frank A
authors.initials: FA
authors.lastname: Gomez
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, California State University, Fullerton, CA, USA.
authors.forename: John L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Haan
mesh_terms: D011211:Electric Power Supplies; D055664:Electrochemical Techniques / Q000295:instrumentation*; D004867:Equipment Design; D005561:Formates / Q000737:chemistry*; D000432:Methanol; D046210:Microfluidic Analytical Techniques / Q000295:instrumentation*; D010084:Oxidation-Reduction; D010209:Paper; D019095:Point-of-Care Systems
chemical_list: D005561:Formates; D000432:Methanol
keywords: Electrochemical sensor; Formate oxidation; Microfluidic fuel cell; Paper microfluidics; Point-of-care diagnostic devices