Operating Characteristics and Dynamic Behaviours of a 5W Stack for Micro DMFC

摘要

In this work, we fabricated and tested micro DMFC 5W stack for portable devices. Micro fuel cell stack was designed as the size of 48 mm × 50 mm × 16.5 mm (～39.6 cc). Micro DMFC 5W stack consisted of 6 cells and each cell had an active area of 13.7 cm~2. The membrane/electrode assembly (MEA) for the stack was made by using Nafion 115 membrane and PtRu/C and Pt/C catalysts for anode and cathode, respectively. Bipolar plates with the thickness of 1.2mm or 1.5mm were fabricated by machining the graphite plates to have serpentine channels with two flow paths. The operating characteristics and dynamic behaviours of micro DMFC 5W stack were measured by an electrochemical test system. Dynamic tests were conducted to evaluate the response characteristics of micro DMFC 5W stack. In addition, we performed long-run test of micro DMFC 5W stack at constant voltage of 2.4V (0.4V/cell) for more than 2,000hr.