(408d) Engineering Glucose Oxidase to Improve Electron Transport in Enzymatic Fuel Cells

Enzymatic fuel cells, specifically their electrode compartments, lose much of their effectiveness due to inefficient electron transfer between the active center of the redox enzymes and the electrode. It is often shown that the power loss can be mitigated using immobilization techniques, such as chemical modifications targeting random surface residues, encapsulation, or entrapment methods. However, such techniques often negatively affect enzymatic activity, making biological methods that properly expose the active center more desirable. In this presentation, glucose oxidase (GOx) was displayed on the yeast surface and fused to a gold binding peptide to bring the GOx in close proximity to the electrode for enhanced electron transport between the active center and the electrode. The increased potential in current production due to the enhanced attachment of GOx to the electrode surface and the effect of tethering mediators in between GOx and the electrode to further aid electron transport will be discussed.