Influence of anode flow field on mass transport in a air-breathing micro direct methanol fuel cell

摘要

In this paper, the inner transport behavior of anode flow field structures (point-type, parallel, single-serpentine and double-serpentine) on a silicon-based micro direct methanol fuel cell (μDMFC) is investigated through both simulations and experiments. A model is established to describe the concentrations both in the flow field and the diffusion layer, as well as the pressure distribution in the flow field. Furthermore, using micro electromechanical system (MEMS) technology, a silicon-based μDMFC with the active area of 0.64cm2 is designed and fabricated to evaluate the model verification as well as the corresponding cell performance. In addition, a novel method is introduced by Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) to optimize the assembly. The experimental results reveal that the cell patterned with double-serpentine channel exhibits the best cell performance with the maximum power density of 11.4 mW cm-2.