Vitamin-Mediated Glucose Flow Cell for Sustainable Power Generation

Shon, Jong-Hwa; Feng, Ruozhu; Kim, Soowhan; Yan, Litao; Shao, Yuyan; Wang, Wei

doi:10.1021/acsenergylett.5c02462

Title: Vitamin-Mediated Glucose Flow Cell for Sustainable Power Generation

Journal Article · Wed Oct 15 00:00:00 UTC 2025 · ACS Energy Letters

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1021/acsenergylett.5c02462 · OSTI ID:3003226

Shon, Jong-Hwa ^[1];

^[1]; Kim, Soowhan ^[2]; Yan, Litao ^[1];

^[1];

^[1]

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)

Glucose as biofuel asserts unique advantages, including low-temperature electricity generation, easy accessibility, low storage cost, and flexible application for on-demand power generation. Riboflavin, also known as Vitamin B₂, is a critical component in biological systems and is involved in many metabolic reactions as enzyme cofactors. Inspired by these metabolic reactions, we demonstrate a flow cell for electrochemical glucose oxidation reaction (GOR), using riboflavin as an environmentally friendly mediator to replace traditional noble metal catalysts. When paired with O₂ under alkaline conditions, the glucose flow cell achieves a peak power density of 13 mW/cm², 20 times higher than the previous report in alkaline conditions. The demonstrated vitamin-mediated engineered biofuel flow cell delivered high peak power density at room temperature/ambient pressure while maintaining low cost and environmental friendliness, eliminating the need for a noble metal catalyst.

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Research Organization:: Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Laboratory Directed Research and Development (LDRD) Program; USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES)

Grant/Contract Number:: AC02-06CH11357; AC05-76RL01830

OSTI ID:: 3003226

Report Number(s):: PNNL-SA--203390

Journal Information:: ACS Energy Letters, Journal Name: ACS Energy Letters Journal Issue: 11 Vol. 10; ISSN 2380-8195

Publisher:: American Chemical Society (ACS)Copyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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