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An enzymatic biofuel cell is a device that converts chemical energy into electrical energy by using sugars and enzymes as a fuel and a catalyst, respectively. The most potential application of enzymatic biofuel cells is for implantable power such as microscale cells implanted in blood vessels.1) Ferritins are major iron storage proteins that are widely distributed in animal and plant
tissues. They are composed of 24 subunits to form a hollow shell which is able to accommodate a core of up to 4,500 Fe(III) atoms, mainly in the form of ferrihydrite phosphate. Because of the reduction and oxidation of iron ions in the cavity, ferritins are electrochemically active. Furthermore, the naturally existing iron core was found to be readily extracted and replaced with various electroactive materials such as Mn and Co. This discovery renders ferritin to be
applied to electrochemical applications such as biofuel cells.2) In this work, ferritin from horse spleen was immobilized on an electrode and then reconstituted through electrochemical removal of the iron core followed by chemical/electrochemical insertion of platinum into the cavity. The reconstituted ferritin immobilized on the electrode was examined by cyclic voltammetry. The
reconstituted Pt-cored ferritin has been applied to enzymatic biofuel cells as a biocathod for electrocatalytic oxygen reduction.