Performance improvement of passive direct methanol fuel cells with surface-patterned Nafion® membranes

Nafion® 115 membrane, patterned by thermal imprint lithography on the anode side, is used for passive direct methanol fuel cells (DMFCs). The membrane roughness factor, defined as the ratio between the actual and projected membrane surface area, was investigated for its effects on the performance of the DMFCs. When the anode Pt-Ru (1:1) catalyst loading is 1.0 mg cm−2, the maximum power density of the DMFC with a surface-patterned membrane (roughness factor: 5.4) using 3.0 M methanol as the fuel at 25 ± 1 °C reaches 27.2 ± 0.3 mW cm−2, an increase of ∼57.2% in comparison to DMFC using the pristine membrane (roughness factor: ∼1.0). Further, electrochemical characterization indicates that increased roughness factor of the membrane results in increased electrochemically active surface area and reduced charge transfer resistance in the cell. These performance improvements are ascribed to the increased surface roughness which enlarges the membrane/catalyst interface, possibly facilitating mass transport of the fuel and improving anode catalyst utilization. Thus, patterned membranes have great potential in improving the performance of fuel cells and reducing catalyst loading.