Planar micro-direct methanol fuel cell prototyped by rapid powder blasting

We present a planar micro-direct methanol fuel cell (μ-DMFC) fabricated by rapid prototyping-powder blasting technology. Using an elastomeric mask, we pattern two parallel microfluidic channels in glass. The anode and cathode of the fuel cell are formed by wet spraying Pt-Ru/C and Pt/C catalysts, respectively, onto Au electrodes that are evaporated in the microchannels. Simply clamping a Nafion 117 proton exchange membrane (PEM) using a glass substrate covered with PDMS membrane onto the microchannels completes the fuel cell fabrication. Our μ-DMFC generates a voltage of 0.45 V and can deliver a power up to 0.5 mW/cm² by using 1 M CH₃OH in 0.5 M H₂SO₄ solution as fuel in the anodic channel, and 0.01 M H₂O₂ in 0.5 M H₂SO₄ as oxidant solution in the cathodic channel.