Enzymatic Biofuel Cells Based on Three-Dimensional Conducting Electrode Matrices

Enzymatic biofuel cells can use a variety of fuels such as glucose and ethanol, and they have the potential to power portable devices. This article summarizes recent advances made in the use of three-dimensional conducting materials as electrode matrices of enzymatic biofuel cells from the point of view of the current density and the power density.     

酶法生物燃料电池的研究进展

酶法生物燃料电池对能量转换有许多积极的贡献,包括可更新的催化剂、燃料的多样性及室温下的操作能力,但是酶法生物燃料电池仍然被许多条件限制。文章综述了生物燃料电池的研究进展,并着重介绍了酶生物燃料电池的进展状况,提出了酶法生物燃料电池有效发展的限制性因素,找到了一种有效解决三维电极结构的方法。     

Fuel Cells and Biofuel Cells: From Past to Perspectives

This review aims at summarizing the history and state‐of‐the‐art in the areas of fuel and biofuel cells. The paper is addressed to a broad audience including experts and particularly to newcomers and students. Some parts of the review, particularly about fuel cells of different kinds, are rather general and mostly addressed to students, however, sections related to biofuel cells are more specialized and will be interesting for researchers working in this novel and challenging area. Many aspects discussed in the article represent personal opinions of the authors. The article is aimed at providing interesting and easy for reading material representing more concepts than specific experimental data. If the readers get excited about the topic, the authors’ goals will be satisfied.     

Nanobiocatalysis in Organic Media: Opportunities for Enzymes in Nanostructures

In this review, we emphasized the importance of enzymatic processes in organic media, summarized recent advances of nanobiocatalysts with high activities in organic media, and proposed three general principles for designing nanobiocatalysis therein: facilitated substrate transport, retention of protein structure, and highly dispersed catalyst forms.     

Nanobioelectrocatalysis and Its Applications in Biosensors, Biofuel Cells and Bioprocessing

This review details the use of nanomaterials to improve bioelectrocatalysis for biosensor and biological fuel cell applications. Different types of bioelectrocatalysts are described as well as different types of nanomaterials for improving the rate of bioelectrocatalysis, as well as the active surface area of the electrodes.     

Mediatorless Carbohydrate/Oxygen Biofuel Cells with Improved Cellobiose Dehydrogenase Based Bioanode

Direct electron transfer (DET) between cellobiose dehydrogenase from Humicola insolens ascomycete (HiCDH) and gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) was achieved by modifying AuNPs with a novel, positively charged thiol N‐(6‐mercapto)hexylpyridinium (MHP). The DET enabled the use of the HiCDH enzyme as an anodic biocatalyst in the design of a mediatorless carbohydrate/oxygen enzymatic fuel cell (EFC). A biocathode of the EFC was based on bilirubin oxidase from Myrothecium verrucaria (MvBOx) directly immobilised on the surface of AuNPs. The following parameters of the EFC based on Au/AuNP/MHP/HiCDH bioanode and Au/AuNP/MvBOx biocathode were obtained in quiescent air saturated PBS, pH 7.4, containing: (i) 5 mM glucose‐open‐circuit voltage (OCV) of 0.65 ± 0.011 V and the maximal power density of 4.77 ± 1.34 μW cm⁻² at operating voltage of 0.50 V; or (ii) 10 mM lactose‐OCV of 0.67 ± 0.006 V and the maximal power density of 8.64 ± 1.91 μW cm⁻² at operating voltage of 0.50 V. The half‐life operation times of the EFC were estimated to be at least 13 and 44 h in air saturated PBS containing 5 mM glucose and 10 mM lactose, respectively. Among advantages of HiCDH/MvBOx FCs are (i) simplified construction, (ii) relatively high power output with glucose as biofuel, and (iii) the absence of the inhibition of the HiCDH based bioanode by lactose, when compared with the best previously reported CDH based bioanode.     

Photovoltaic Study of Photoelectrochemical Biofuel Cells Sensitized by Porphyrin Derivatives with Different Substituents

Two porphyrin derivatives with different substituents were investigated as dyes for the titanium dioxide (TiO₂) film electrode to construct new two-compartment photoelectrochemical biofuel cells (PEBFCs). The two porphyrin derivatives were tetrakis(4-carboxyphenyl)porphyrin (TCPP) and meso-tetra(p-hydroxyphenyl)porphine (THPP). To determine how cell performance was affected by the dye with different substituents, we analyzed the photochemical and photoelectrochemical properties of the two dyes by physical characterization and photoelectrochemical experiments. The UV–Vis absorption spectra and X-ray photoelectron spectra indicated that the interactions between the dye and TiO₂ decreased in the order of TCPP > THPP, which was also in accord with the results of Fourier transform infrared. In addition, TCPP and THPP were calculated using the density functional theory and the time-dependent density functional theory, and the calculation result exhibited that the radiative lifetime decreased in the order of TCPP > THPP. Compared with THPP, TCPP with longer excited-state was expected to enhance the performance of a PEBFC. We measured and compared the incident photon-to-collected electron conversion efficiency and the light-to-electrical conversion efficiency (η) of the porphyrin-sensitized photoelectrochemical biofuel cell. The photovoltaic characteristics showed the TCPP was more effective compared to the THPP, which obviously showed that the experimental results were consistent with theoretical expectation. These results revealed that the kind of the substituent for the porphyrin influenced the photovoltaic properties of the PEBFC.     

椰子油催化裂解制备生物燃料的研究

以椰子油为原料,通过液相裂解法和气相催化裂解法制备高品位的生物燃料。在温度450℃、进气速率30 mL/min、反应时间45 min的液相裂解条件下,椰子油液相裂解的液体产率达到最大为76.5%,但裂解液酸值较高,在100 mg/g以上。为了降低裂解液酸值,以纳基膨润土为载体,CaO作为催化剂,对液相裂解产物之一的裂解液进行气相催化裂解。研究结果表明:在温度400℃、催化剂CaO用量15%的条件下,椰子油气相催化裂解的液体产率峰值为69.5%,酸值为26.8 mg/g;在温度450℃、催化剂CaO用量30%的条件下,椰子油气相催化裂解的液体产率为64.1%,酸值为2.8 mg/g,此时酸值最低。经GC-MS分析可知,液相裂解液中主要包含烃类、酮类和酸类等组分,其质量分数分别为32.6%、24.2%和43.3%,而气相催化裂解液中烃类物质增加23.3个百分点,不利的酸、酮类物质则分别降低18.8和4.6个百分点。与椰子油相比,液相裂解的液体产物运动黏度与含氧量降低,酸值与低位热值升高;与液相裂解液相比,气相催化裂解的液体产物的酸值与含氧量降低,热值升高。经气相催化裂解得到的生物燃料和0#柴油更为接近。     

微藻生产生物燃料研究进展

从全球情况来看,化石燃料的储量日益减少,原油价格不断上涨,温室效应越发严重,这些问题促使了可再生能源的研究与发展。而生物燃料是一种新型的利用效率较高的可再生能源。由微藻生产生物燃料,则是一种更为经济环保的方式。文章从微藻生产生物燃料培养系统等方面,介绍了微藻生产生物燃料的研究进展。     

微生物方法选择性生产生物燃料的研究进展

目前,工程荫已经广泛应用于食品、药品及酒精燃料等产品的生产中。尽管如此,工程菌发酵技术的潜力仍然没有充分发掘。交通运输业对于耐用燃料的需求日益增强,迫切地需要开发生物燃料的生产技术。为此,科研人员经过几十年的努力,建起了微生物生理学和途径控制学数据库,使得微生物工程成为生物燃料生产的一项理想技术。虽然目前乙醇在生物燃料市场上占有统治地位,但是它在某些物理性质上存在缺陷,并不足一种理想的燃料。回顾了微生物工程的研究进展,综述了一些新型生物燃料的微生物工程生产。     

Characterization of Lipid Components in Two Microalgae for Biofuel Application

A full characterization of lipid components is critical for selecting the most suitable microalgae and for downstream processing for biofuel production. This study demonstrates extraction, quantification, and diversity of lipid components from two microalgae of different types. For total lipid quantification, three extraction methods were compared and the method of pre-drying, dry ice-assisted grinding, and sequential solvent extraction gave the highest total lipid recovery. For lipid class composition determination, the photosynthetic Nannochloropsis contained 37.0% polar lipids, 41.1% triacylglycerols, and 12.5% unsaponifiable matter, whereas, the heterotrophic Schizochytrium had much less polar lipids and unsaponifiable matter. Further separation and quantification showed that Nannochloropsis contained more glycolipids (37.1% of total polar lipids) than that in Schizochytrium (14.3%), while Schizochytrium contained much more phospholipids (85.7%) than that in Nannochloropsis (44.7%). The major components in unsaponifiable matter of Nannochloropsis were hydrocarbon and cholesterol (55.8 and 37.7% of the total GC quantifiable matter), which only accounted for 29.3% of total unsaponifiable matter. For Schizochytrium, 15.4% squalene, 28.9% cholesterol, and 43.2% stigmasta-4,7,22-trien-3-ol were found in its GC quantifiable matter, and the total quantified hydrocarbon and sterols accounted for 50.5% of unsaponifiable matter. The lipid compositions of the two types of microalgae are very different, therefore, processing performance, such as lipid extraction and conversion to biodiesel may be different. Similar lipid characterization for other biofuel types of microalgae needs to be made to ensure optimal biofuel processing and fuel quality.     

藻类生物燃料的发展与环境保护

藻类生物燃料从原料的培育,制备工艺,到产品,每个环节都与环保有着密不可分的关系。通过对藻类生长环境、人工微藻的污水培育、微藻生产生物柴油的规模化培养、采收、干燥、提取油脂、制备方法等无污染先进技术的介绍,指出微藻生物燃料的发展不但更利于缓解温室效应,处理环境污水,而且其生产工艺的绿色化,让微藻生物燃料的发展前景更广阔。     

生物燃料生产和技术发展趋势

重点阐述车用燃料乙醇和生物柴油的国内外生产和应用现状,以及技术发展趋势.指出人们在积极探寻清洁汽、柴油燃料生产新工艺的同时,也在努力开发和利用矿物替代燃料,其中经济性好、对大气污染小的乙醇和生物柴油备受青睐.燃料级乙醇和生物柴油生产正在向低成本方向发展.     

固定化少根根霉发酵产脂肪酶及催化合成单甘酯

采用多种载体固定少根根霉细胞发酵产脂肪酶,发现珍珠岩和聚氨酯泡沫比较适合作固定化载体,发酵液酶活性比无载体直接发酵高6~8倍,而且产酶后固定化根霉细胞的废载体有较高酶活性,可直接作固定化细胞用于催化化学反应. 对根霉脂肪酶的性质进行了初步探讨. 提取的脂肪酶和固定化根霉细胞用于催化合成单甘酯,效果显著.     

生物燃料工厂的能源与水资源的优化(英文)

In this paper we address the topic of energy and water optimization in the production of bioethanol from corn and switchgrass. We show that in order for these manufacturing processes to be attractive, there is a need to go beyond traditional heat integration and water recycling techniques. Thus, we propose a strategy based on mathematical programming techniques to model and optimize the structure of the processes, and perform heat integration including the use of multi-effect distillation columns and integrated water networks to show that the energy efficiency and water consumption in bioethanol plants can be significantly improved. Specifically, under some circumstances energy can even be produced and the water consumption can be reduced below the values required for the production of gasoline.     

Electromagnetic Biostimulation of Living Cultures for Biotechnology, Biofuel and Bioenergy Applications

The surge of interest in bioenergy has been marked with increasing efforts in research and development to identify new sources of biomass and to incorporate cutting-edge biotechnology to improve efficiency and increase yields. It is evident that various microorganisms will play an integral role in the development of this newly emerging industry, such as yeast for ethanol and Escherichia coli for fine chemical fermentation. However, it appears that microalgae have become the most promising prospect for biomass production due to their ability to grow fast, produce large quantities of lipids, carbohydrates and proteins, thrive in poor quality waters, sequester and recycle carbon dioxide from industrial flue gases and remove pollutants from industrial, agricultural and municipal wastewaters. In an attempt to better understand and manipulate microorganisms for optimum production capacity, many researchers have investigated alternative methods for stimulating their growth and metabolic behavior. One such novel approach is the use of electromagnetic fields for the stimulation of growth and metabolic cascades and controlling biochemical pathways. An effort has been made in this review to consolidate the information on the current status of biostimulation research to enhance microbial growth and metabolism using electromagnetic fields. It summarizes information on the biostimulatory effects on growth and other biological processes to obtain insight regarding factors and dosages that lead to the stimulation and also what kind of processes have been reportedly affected. Diverse mechanistic theories and explanations for biological effects of electromagnetic fields on intra and extracellular environment have been discussed. The foundations of biophysical interactions such as bioelectromagnetic and biophotonic communication and organization within living systems are expounded with special consideration for spatiotemporal aspects of electromagnetic topology, leading to the potential of multipolar electromagnetic systems. The future direction for the use of biostimulation using bioelectromagnetic, biophotonic and electrochemical methods have been proposed for biotechnology industries in general with emphasis on an holistic biofuel system encompassing production of algal biomass, its processing and conversion to biofuel.     

农业秸秆类生物质制取生物燃料的研究进展

为了缓解全球能源危机和解决环境污染问题,将农业秸秆类生物质,通过微生物发酵将它们转化为能源及高附加值的化学品,具有重要意义。介绍农业秸秆类生物质的结构成分;综合评述物理和化学预处理方法;重点介绍由农业秸秆类生物质生产乙醇、丁醇的研究现状。指出农业秸秆发酵制取生物燃料工业化进程的关键所在。