Preface
Electron transfer reactions in living organisms including photosynthesis and
metabolisms play a central role in all living systems. Redox enzymes catalyze a
variety of biological electron transfer reactions. Each enzyme has evolved over
millions of years to catalyze one given reaction in high speed, high selectivity, and
high specificity. Bioelectrochemistry is a field of study and application of biological
electron transfer reactions in terms of thermodynamic and kinetics.
It has been established that redox enzymes can also work as efficient electrocatalysts. Over the last four decades, redox enzymes have received much attention for its
use in the coupling of enzyme reactions having such intrinsic and powerful characteristics with non-specific electrochemical reactions. The coupled reaction is known
as bioelectrocatalysis. It is worthy to note that the coupling gives a variety of biological redox functions to conventional electrode materials, and it is expected to open
new ways for a wealth of fundamental researches and developing bioelectrochemical
devices relating to amperometric biosensors, biological fuel cells (which is simply
referred to as biofuel cells), and bioelectrochemical reactors (bioelectrosynthetic
devices).
Recent progresses in this field have led to increasing sophistication in the
approaches to the assembly of electrode surfaces, including immobilization and
orientation of redox enzymes at the electrode surface, tuning of electrode surfaces,
and protein mutations to facilitate electron transfer reactions. In addition, such
improved bioelectrochemical techniques can be applied to study the electron transfer
behavior of redox enzymes to address fundamental biological questions.
This book covers the fundamental aspects of the chemistry and electrochemistry
of redox enzymes which underline the titled topic. Described are the basic concepts
and theoretical aspects of bioelectrocatalysis, the different experimental techniques
and materials used to study and characterize related problems, and also its various
applications to bioelectrochemical devices. This work provides a unique source of
information in this area, approaching the subject from a cross-disciplinary viewpoint.
v
Electron transfer reactions in living organisms including photosynthesis and
metabolisms play a central role in all living systems. Redox enzymes catalyze a
variety of biological electron transfer reactions. Each enzyme has evolved over
millions of years to catalyze one given reaction in high speed, high selectivity, and
high specificity. Bioelectrochemistry is a field of study and application of biological
electron transfer reactions in terms of thermodynamic and kinetics.
It has been established that redox enzymes can also work as efficient electrocatalysts. Over the last four decades, redox enzymes have received much attention for its
use in the coupling of enzyme reactions having such intrinsic and powerful characteristics with non-specific electrochemical reactions. The coupled reaction is known
as bioelectrocatalysis. It is worthy to note that the coupling gives a variety of biological redox functions to conventional electrode materials, and it is expected to open
new ways for a wealth of fundamental researches and developing bioelectrochemical
devices relating to amperometric biosensors, biological fuel cells (which is simply
referred to as biofuel cells), and bioelectrochemical reactors (bioelectrosynthetic
devices).
Recent progresses in this field have led to increasing sophistication in the
approaches to the assembly of electrode surfaces, including immobilization and
orientation of redox enzymes at the electrode surface, tuning of electrode surfaces,
and protein mutations to facilitate electron transfer reactions. In addition, such
improved bioelectrochemical techniques can be applied to study the electron transfer
behavior of redox enzymes to address fundamental biological questions.
This book covers the fundamental aspects of the chemistry and electrochemistry
of redox enzymes which underline the titled topic. Described are the basic concepts
and theoretical aspects of bioelectrocatalysis, the different experimental techniques
and materials used to study and characterize related problems, and also its various
applications to bioelectrochemical devices. This work provides a unique source of
information in this area, approaching the subject from a cross-disciplinary viewpoint.
v