Engineering carbon nanomaterials toward high-efficiency bioelectrocatalysis for enzymatic biofuel cells: a review

Abstract

The growing energy demands and the boost in portable or implantable electronic devices have initiated substantial interest in enzymatic biofuel cells (EBFCs). Exploiting novel electrode materials is essential in promoting the efficiency of bioelectrocatalytic reactions at the enzyme–electrode interface, thus achieving high performance in EBFCs. Carbon nanomaterials have emerged as attractive enzyme host matrices due to their good electronic conductivity and biocompatibility. Targeting the requirements of efficient enzymatic bioelectrocatalysis and high-performance EBFC, several engineering strategies including morphological regulation, heteroatom doping, surface functionalization and carbon composites have been devised for achieving competitive carbon nanomaterials. The purpose of this review is to summarize the recent efforts regarding the engineering strategies in carbon nanomaterials for EBFCs, and rationalize the derived structure–performance relationship. Meanwhile, the current challenges and opportunities of different engineering methods on carbon nanomaterials are provided for achieving high-performance EBFCs concerning practical applications.