Design and fabrication of a silicon-based direct methanol fuel cell with a new cathode spoke structure

Abstract In this paper, a self-breathing micro direct methanol fuel cell (μDMFC) featuring a new cathode current collector with a spoke configuration is presented to improve cell performance. Simulation results show that the new spoke structure can effectively increase the efficiency of oxygen mass transport and exhibit higher pressure than the conventional perforated structure. The water transfer to the proton exchange membrane (PEM) is promoted to reduce the PEM resistance with the increase in the membrane water content. Additionally, the effects of the spoke blades on performance were evaluated to determine the optimal cathode structure. The self-breathing μDMFCs with conventional and new cathode structures were fabricated using silicon-based micro-electromechanical system (MEMS) technologies and tested at room temperature with 1 M methanol solution. The experimental results revealed that the spoke cathode structure exhibits significantly higher performance than the conventional structure, showing a substantial 30% increase in peak power density.

[1]  Ay Su,et al.  Effects of cathode flow fields on direct methanol fuel cell-simulation study , 2007 .

[2]  A. Kulikovsky,et al.  The voltage–current curve of a direct methanol fuel cell: “exact” and fitting equations , 2002 .

[3]  Litian Liu,et al.  A micro-direct methanol fuel cell stack with optimized design and microfabrication , 2008 .

[4]  Christopher K. Dyer.  Fuel cells for portable applications , 2002 .

[5]  Siti Kartom Kamarudin,et al.  Overview on the challenges and developments of micro-direct methanol fuel cells (DMFC) , 2007 .

[6]  Jae Hyuk Jang,et al.  Micro-fuel cells—Current development and applications , 2007 .

[7]  Xinping Qiu,et al.  Design, optimization and microfabrication of a micro-direct methanol fuel cell with microblocks in anode structure , 2009 .

[8]  Qiang Ye,et al.  Pressure drop behavior in the anode flow field of liquid feed direct methanol fuel cells , 2005 .

[9]  Chaoyang Wang,et al.  Development of micro direct methanol fuel cells for high power applications , 2005 .

[10]  Carmen M. Rangel,et al.  Effect of anode and cathode flow field design on the performance of a direct methanol fuel cell , 2010 .

[11]  P. Ivanov,et al.  Influence of current collectors design on the performance of a silicon-based passive micro direct methanol fuel cell , 2009 .

[12]  Qiang Ye,et al.  Experimental investigations of the anode flow field of a micro direct methanol fuel cell , 2006 .

[13]  Rong Chen,et al.  The effect of methanol concentration on the performance of a passive DMFC , 2005 .

[14]  Siti Kartom Kamarudin,et al.  Overview on the application of direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC) for portable electronic devices , 2009 .

[15]  Huamin Zhang,et al.  Properties and fuel cell performance of proton exchange membranes prepared from disulfonated poly(sulfide sulfone) , 2008 .

[16]  Keith Scott,et al.  Performance of a direct methanol fuel cell , 1998 .

[17]  Suk Won Cha,et al.  Air-breathing miniature planar stack using the flexible printed circuit board as a current collector , 2009 .

[18]  Rong Chen,et al.  Two-dimensional two-phase thermal model for passive direct methanol fuel cells , 2008 .

[19]  Jenn-Jiang Hwang,et al.  Effect of breathing-hole size on the electrochemical species in a free-breathing cathode of a DMFC , 2006 .

[20]  Amir Faghri,et al.  Development of planar air breathing direct methanol fuel cell stacks , 2006 .

[21]  Bo Zhang,et al.  Development and performance analysis of a metallic micro-direct methanol fuel cell for high-performance applications , 2010 .

[22]  Tristan Pichonat,et al.  Recent developments in MEMS-based miniature fuel cells , 2007 .

[23]  Siti Kartom Kamarudin,et al.  Design, fabrication and testing of a PMMA-based passive single-cell and a multi-cell stack micro-DMFC , 2009 .