A silicon-based micro direct methanol fuel cell with microblocks in anode structure

This paper presents a micro direct methanol fuel cell (μDMFC) featured by the novel anode structure with microblocks, which drive the fuel from the laminar flow toward the turbulent flow. Both the μDMFC with microblocks and the regular serpentine-channel one are fabricated by using MEMS technologies and reliable Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) assembly method. The performance of the prototype is measured and is compared with that of the regular μDMFC. Experimental results show that the μDMFC with microblocks has generated a maximum power density of 8.08mW/cm
2
, which is much higher than that of the regular μDMFC at the value of 3.87mW/cm
2
, using 2M methanol solution at room temperature.