Effect of operation parameters on performance of micro direct methanol fuel cell fabricated on printed circuit board

• Published in: Journal of power sources 2006-10, Vol.161 (1), p.27-33
• Main Authors: Lim, Sang Woo, Kim, Seung Wan, Kim, Hyun Jong, Ahn, Ji Eun, Han, Hak Soo, Shul, Yong Gun
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Air breathing; Applied sciences; Channel width; Energy; Energy. Thermal use of fuels; Equipments for energy generation and conversion: thermal, electrical, mechanical energy, etc; Exact sciences and technology; Fuel cells; Micro direct methanol fuel cell; Micro-channel; Power density; Printed circuit board
• ISSN: 0378-7753; 1873-2755
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jpowsour.2006.03.091

Directed methanol fuel cells (DMFCs) are fabricated on printed circuit board (PCB) substrates by means of a photolithography process. The effects of channel pattern, channel width and methanol flow rate on the performance of the fabricated DMFC are evaluated over a range of flow-channel widths from 200 to 400 μm and flow rates of methanol from 2 to 80 ml min −1. A micro-DMFC with a cross-stripe channel pattern gives superior performance compared with zig-zag and serpentine type of pattern. A single cell with a 200-μm wide channel delivers a maximum power density of 33 mW cm −2 when using 2 M methanol feed at 80 °C. An air-breathing multi-DMFC composed of eight single unit cells gave 180 mW cm −2 by using a methanol reservoir. It is considered that this may be the first reported attempt to develop a multi-DMFC with micro-channels fabricated on a PCB substrate.