Fabrication of μ-DMFCs with a Tubular Polymer Electrolyte by Catalyst Pasting Method and Their Performance

Abstract

The performance of a type of microtubular direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC) was measured to investigate the effects of the concentration and feeding rate of methanol solution and the loading amount of a Pt-Ru anode catalyst. The half-cell polarization test showed that the optimum loading amount of the Pt-Ru catalyst was 15 mg cm⁻² in a methanol concentration range of 1 to 5 M. For the single cell, a maximum power density of 13.1 mW cm⁻² was achieved with 5 M methanol solution and air at room temperature. When a pump was used for feeding methanol, the power density increased up to 21.3 mW cm⁻² at a feeding rate of 0.1 mL min⁻¹. In addition, the flexibility test exhibited that the single-cell performances did not change, though the tube was bent to about 90 degrees.