Performance of Microtubular DMFCs

Abstract
A novel design for a direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC) is proposed using a microtubular electrolyte. The performance of microtubular DMFCs was tested under several preparation conditions. We show that the catalyst layer composition and the hot-pressing process are critical to microtubular DMFC performance. The results show that microtubular DMFCs are able to perform as well as normal flat DMFCs in terms of power density. A peak power density of was achieved with an air-breathing microtubular DMFC operating at ambient temperature and pressure. © 2004 The Electrochemical Society. All rights reserved.