A Microbial Sensor Based on Direct Electron Transfer at Shewanella Sp. Drop‐Coated Screen‐Printed Carbon Electrodes

Aerobically grown Shewanella sp. bacterial suspension drop‐coated on a disposable screen‐printed carbon electrode was found to possess electroactivity without the aid of redox mediator. Cyclic voltammetric studies revealed the characteristics of a mixed diffusion adsorption‐controlled electrochemical process for direct electron transfer at the bacteria‐modified electrode. Both FE‐SEM and ATR FT‐IR experiments were carried out to investigate the surface characteristics. The electroanalytical applicability was further demonstrated for electrocatalytic reduction of arsenite, hydrogen peroxide and nitrite. Low cost and very simple manufacturing procedure allow for the proposed bacterial sensor to be applied as disposable devices.     

Electrochemical Activity Studies of Glucose Oxidase (GOx)‐Based and Pyranose Oxidase (POx)‐Based Electrodes in Mesoporous Carbon: Toward Biosensor and Biofuel Cell Applications

A simple study using a fixed amount of mesoporous carbon (MSU‐F‐C) was performed for the comparison of pyranose oxidase (POx) and glucose oxidase (GOx) in their electrochemical performance under biosensor and biofuel cell operating modes. Even though the ratio of POx to GOx in the glucose oxidation activity per unit weight of MSU‐F‐C was 0.35, the ratios of POx to GOx in sensitivity and power density were reversed to be 6.2 and 1.4, respectively. POx with broad substrate specificity and an option of large scale production using recombinant E. coli has a great potential for various electrochemical applications, including biofuel cells.     

An Open‐Circuit Voltage and Power Conversion Efficiency Study of Fullerene Ternary Organic Solar Cells Based on Oligomer/Oligomer and Oligomer/Polymer

Variations in the open‐circuit voltage (V _oc) of ternary organic solar cells are systematically investigated. The initial study of these devices consists of two electron‐donating oligomers, S2 (two units) and S7 (seven units), and the electron‐accepting [6,6]‐phenyl C71 butyric acid methyl ester (PC₇₁BM) and reveals that the V _oc is continuously tunable due to the changing energy of the charge transfer state (E _ct) of the active layers. Further investigation suggests that V _oc is also continuously tunable upon change in E _ct in a ternary blend system that consists of S2 and its corresponding polymer (P11):PC₇₁BM. It is interesting to note that higher power conversion efficiencies can be obtained for both S2:S7:PC₇₁BM and S2:P11:PC₇₁BM ternary systems compared with their binary systems, which can be ascribed to an improved V _oc due to the higher E _ct and an improved fill factor due to the improved film morphology upon the incorporation of S2. These findings provide a new guideline for the future design of conjugated polymers for achieving higher performance of ternary organic solar cells.