Three-Dimensional Sulfite Oxidase Bioanodes Based on Graphene Functionalized Carbon Paper for Sulfite/O2 Biofuel Cells

We have developed a three-dimensional (3D) graphene electrode suitable for the immobilization of human sulfite oxidase (hSO), which catalyzes the electrochemical oxidation of sulfite via direct electron transfer (DET). The electrode is fabricated by drop-casting graphene-polyethylenimine (G-P) composites on carbon papers (CPs) precoated with graphene oxide (GO). The negatively charged hSO can be adsorbed electrostatically on the positively charged matrix (G-P) on CP electrodes coated with GO (CPG), with a proper orientation for accelerated DET. Notably, further electrochemical reduction of G-P on CPG electrodes leads to a 9-fold increase of the saturation catalytic current density (jm) for sulfite oxidation reaching 24.4 ± 0.3 μA cm-2, the highest value among reported DET-based hSO bioelectrodes. The increased electron transfer rate plays a dominating role in the enhancement of direct enzymatic current because of the improved electric contact of hSO with the electrode. The optimized hSO bioelectrode shows a significant catalytic rate (kcat: 25.6 ± 0.3 s-1) and efficiency (kcat/Km: 0.231 ± 0.003 s-1 μM-1) compared to the reported hSO bioelectrodes. The assembly of the hSO bioanode and a commercial platinum biocathode allows the construction of sulfite/O2 enzymatic biofuel cells (EBFCs) with flowing fuels. The optimized EBFC displays an open-circuit voltage (OCV) of 0.64 ± 0.01 V and a maximum power density of 61 ± 6 μW cm-2 (122 ± 12 mW m-3) at 30 °C, which exceeds the best reported value by more than 6 times. © 2019 American Chemical Society.