Design of MEMS-based micro direct methanol fuel cell stack

AbstractThis paper presents two kinds of direct methanol fuel cell (μDMFC) stack in planar array. The silicon-based DMFC stack is designed in a flip-flop configuration using MEMS technology, and the stainless steel stack is fabricated using stamping technology. Compared to stainless steel stack, the flip-flop silicon-based stack may reduce the connection space and lower the contact resistance between the membrane electrode assembly and the plates. Experimental results show that these two kinds of stacks have similar output 6.75mW and 6.77mW at same operation conditions. The performance of the MEMS-based DMFC stack is rather good for application in portable electronic products