Characteristics of micro DMFCs array fabricated on flexible polymeric substrate

We propose a novel design and fabrication technique for a micro direct methanol fuel cell (μ-Direct methanol fuel cells (DMFC)). Ten μ-DMFCs were fabricated on a polymeric flexible substrate containing a micro-holes array (∅ = 500 μm). Our concept is that a high voltage DMFC can be achieved through the integration of a micro DMFC array on one flexible substrate. With 10 cells in series on the substrate, we achieved an open circuit voltage of 5.6 V and an average cell power density of 3 mW cm−2. Further, none of the cells failed after subjecting the substrate to 1000 fold repetitions. Preliminary test results show that our DMFC fabricated on a polymeric substrate is useful as a miniature DMFC.