A Novel Button-Type Micro Direct Methanol Fuel Cell with Graphene Diffusion Layer

• Main Authors: Yingli Zhu, Lei Gao, Jianyu Li
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2019-09-01
• Series: Micromachines
• Subjects: micro direct methanol fuel cells (μdmfcs); button-type; graphene; gas diffusion layer (gdl)
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/2072-666X/10/10/658

In order to solve the problem that bolts in traditional packaged direct methanol fuel cells (DMFCs) take up a large area and reduce the specific energy (energy per unit weight) and power density (power per unit area), a new button-type micro direct methanol fuel cell (B-μDMFC) is designed, assembled, and packaged. The cell with four different structures was tested before and after packaging. The results indicate that the button cell with three-dimensional graphene and springs has the best performance. The equivalent circuit and methanol diffusion model was applied to explain the experimental results. The peak volumetric specific power density of the cell is 11.85 mW cm^−3. This is much higher than traditional packaged DMFC, because the novel B-μDMFC eliminates bolts in the structure and improves the effective area ratio of the cell.