Vitamin-Mediated Glucose Flow Cell for Sustainable Power Generation.

Glucose as a biofuel offers unique advantages, including low-temperature electricity generation, easy accessibility, low storage cost, and adaptability for on-demand power generation. Riboflavin, commonly known as Vitamin B2, is a critical component in biological systems, participating in many metabolic reactions as an enzyme cofactor. Drawing inspiration from these metabolic processes, we demonstrate a flow cell for the electrochemical glucose oxidation reaction (GOR), using riboflavin as an environmentally friendly mediator to replace traditional noble metal catalysts. When pairing with an O2 electrode under alkaline conditions, the glucose flow cell achieves a peak power density of 13 mW/cm2, 20 times greater than the previously reported value under similar conditions. The demonstrated vitamin-mediated biofuel flow cell introduces a new catalytic design approach for a glucose-based biofuel cell, delivering high peak power density at room temperature and ambient pressure. This approach ensures low cost and environmental sustainability, eliminating the need for noble metal catalysts.