BIOFUEL CELLS
Seokheun "Sean" Choi
Binghamton University, USA

Abstract
Biofuel cells are a new energy solution for next-generation low-power electronics. The biofuel cells generate electricity from a broad diversity of biomass and organic substrates through bioelectrocatalysis. The biochemical energy is stored within all formats of human bodily fluids including tears, sweat, saliva, urine, and blood, and even in organic substrates available throughout the gastrointestinal tract. All forms of environmental organic water, wastewater, and biomass contain chemical or biochemical energy convertible to electricity. Biofuel cells can use enzymes, organelles, or microorganisms as an eco-friendly biocatalyst to convert that chemical or biological energy into electrical energy, allowing portable, wearable, implantable, or ingestible power generation in a sustainable manner, or offering a long-term power solution for unattended environmental electronics.

His group pioneered these biological fuel cells (or biobatteries) and initiated the field of disposable bioenergy. In this talk, he will introduce the field of biofuel cells, from early breakthroughs to current achievements, with a focus on emerging techniques to improve their performance. He will also present many innovative biofuel cells that his research group recently developed including paper-based biobatteries, wearable biobatteries, ingestible biobatteries and long-lived self-sustaining biofuel cells. Details of the frontier of research to improve the performance of the devices will be discussed, followed by a critical perspective on strategic future directions.

Bio
Seokheun "Sean" Choi is a Professor in the Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering at State University of New York (SUNY)-Binghamton. Currently, he is running "Bioelectronics & Microsystems Lab" and "Center for Research in Advanced Sensing Technologies & Environmental Sustainability" as a Director. Prior to joining SUNY-Binghamton, he was a research professor in the School of Electronic & Computing Systems at the University of Cincinnati. He received his Ph.D. degree in bioelectronics from Arizona State University in 2011. His current research focuses on next generation "Biosensing and Bioenergy technologies," including self-powered biosensors, wearable and stretchable sensors, biofuel cells, biobatteries, papertronics, and fibertronics. He has been recognized as a pioneer in biobatteries and papertronics. Over the years, he has secured funding over $4 million from NSF, ONR, and SUNY Research Foundation. He has authored over 150 journal and conference articles, two book chapters, and one book, and hold two U.S. patents.