On-Chip Fuel Cell: Micro Direct Methanol Fuel Cell of an Air-Breathing, Membraneless, and Monolithic Design

Abstract

This paper proposes a novel design for a microfuel cell as an on-chip power source and demonstrates its fabrication and operation to prove the concept. Its simple design is important from the viewpoints of fabrication (e.g., replication), integration, and compatibility with other microdevices. In testing, the prototype cell was able to generate electric power (maximum: ca. 1.4 microW) on methanol without pumps under both neutral and acidic conditions. As for the size, the electrode part of the cell (two cathodes and one anode) is 400 microns in width and 6 mm in length. The evaluation demonstrated that the proposed design is a promising on-chip power source for miniature devices.

On the proton conductivity of Nafion–Faujasite composite membranes for low temperature direct methanol fuel cells

“…Direct methanol fuel cells (DMFCs) are promising power sources for mobile and portable applications due to their high energy density, low pollutant emission, simple system design, and abundant fuel sources [1][2][3]. The bottlenecks restricting the commercialization of DMFCs are Pt-based catalysts [4] and perflurosulfonic acid membranes [5] which are too expensive to be used in large quantities.…”

A Glucose Biofuel Cell Equipped in the Fluid Reservoir of a Polyimide Diaphragm Micropump

“…Enzymatic biofuel cells (BFCs) that utilize enzymes as electrocatalysts instead of metals have attracted attention as ubiquitous sustainable power devices that can generate electricity directly from the blood or bodily fluids [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15]. A characteristic feature of BFCs is their ability to generate power using various kinds of fuels, such as glucose, lipids, and hydrogen.…”

Fabrication and Durability of Single Chip Micro Direct Methanol Fuel Cell (SC-^|^mu;DMFC) by Photolithography Process

“…Micro fuel cell is widely studied due to the growth of micro electromechanical system (MEMS) devices [1][2][3]. It is required to minimize the fuel cell components in order to integrate to the devices.…”

“…It is required to minimize the fuel cell components in order to integrate to the devices. Several groups have made micro fuel cells integrated on various substrates as a chip scale power source [2][3][4][5]. The authors have reported a fuel cell formed on a PFT film substrate [6].…”