Diaphragm air–liquid micro pump applicable to the direct methanol fuel cell

•Develop a type of diaphragm air–liquid micro pump to be applied in direct methanol fuel cells.•The diaphragm air–liquid micro pump can supply both liquid and air at the same pump.•The developed pump has been successfully demonstrated for applications in pumping the fuel of DMFC.

This study developed a diaphragm air–liquid micro pump applicable to direct methanol fuel cells. Because direct methanol fuel cells use liquid methanol as fuel and the cathode terminal of the fuel cell uses an active air supply, improving the operational stability of the cell, general fuel cell systems are usually equipped with both liquid and air pumps. The overall consumed power will influence the output power of fuel cells; therefore, the output power can be increased using a pump that supplies both liquid and air.