Recent Research Progress on Micro Direct Methanol Fuel Cell

To get a comprehensive understanding on the rapid development of micro direct methanol fuel cell (μDMFC) technology, this paper analyzed the urgent demand from consumer market and military use for portable power sources with small size and high performance, giving a review of recent research progress of μDMFC technology. In general, μDMFC is based on micro electro-mechanical system (MEMS) technology and has become a promising application for laptops, cell phones, individual combat system and bomb fuse due to its cute volume, light weight, high energy density, and merit of environmental protection. However, unlike the traditional sized fuel cells, the decrease of feature size of μDMFC has induced many differences in reaction components, manufacturing process, membrane electrolyte assembly, as well as fuel supply and power density characteristics. This paper focuses on the key factors that affect the output performance and finally reveals the technological challenges and trends in the future.