Safety and economic efficiency are essential properties of a fuel associated with a ubiquitous power supply. Although ascorbic acid (ASA) is a safe fuel, it is expensive and easily deactivated. Herein, we propose protocatechuic acid (PCA) as a new safe fuel. Our PCA fuel cell yields a maximum power output of 28.8 μW/cm²–anode, comparable to that of an ASA fuel cell. Moreover, PCA is expected to be cheaper as it can be produced from lignin, which is abundant on Earth. In a feasibility study, PCA was produced from vanillin, a major product of lignin depolymerization, by microbial catalysis. The culture supernatant containing vanillin-derived PCA (PCA_van) was also used as fuel. The fuel cell involving PCA_van shows comparable performance to that with PCA, maintaining 74% of the initial maximum power output after 7 d. These results highlight the suitability of PCA as fuel for ubiquitous applications and its advantages for sustainable growth.

安全和经济效率是与无处不在的电源相关的燃料的基本特性。尽管抗坏血酸 (ASA) 是一种安全的燃料，但它价格昂贵且容易失活。在此，我们建议将原儿茶酸 (PCA) 作为一种新的安全燃料。我们的 PCA 燃料电池产生的最大功率输出为 28.8 μW/cm ^{2 -}阳极，与 ASA 燃料电池相当。此外，PCA 预计会更便宜，因为它可以由地球上丰富的木质素生产。在一项可行性研究中，PCA 是通过微生物催化由香草醛生产的，香草醛是木质素解聚的主要产物。含有香兰素衍生的 PCA (PCA _van )的培养上清液也用作燃料。涉及PCA_面包车的燃料电池显示出与 PCA 相当的性能，在 7 天后保持初始最大功率输出的 74%。这些结果突出了 PCA 作为无处不在应用的燃料的适用性及其在可持续增长方面的优势。