The gas diffusion layer (GDL) is vital to the performance and durability of direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC). The GDL plays an important role in water management, catalyst efficiency and conductivity of DMFC. The GDL consists of a carbon substrate that can either be woven or non-woven. The various substrates used to produce GDLs result in very different physical characteristics, particularly su...

1.1 Background Thanks to the breakthroughs in microfabrication technologies, numerous concepts of microsystems including micro aerial vehicles, microbots, and nanosatellites have been proposed. Contrary to ordinary electronic devices, these microsystems perform mechanical work and require the extended operation. As their functions are getting complex and advanced, their energy consumption is al...

The cathode catalyst layer (CL) in direct methanol fuel cells (DMFCs) has been optimized through a balance of ionomer and porosity distributions, oth playing important roles in affecting proton conduction and oxygen transport through a thick CL of DMFC. The effects of fabrication rocedure, ionomer content, and Pt distribution on the microstructure and performance of a cathode CL under low air f...

Water and methanol transport behavior, solvents adsorption and electrochemical properties of filler-free Nafion and nanocomposites based on two smectite clays, were investigated using impedance spectroscopy, DMFC tests and NMR methods, including spin-lattice relaxation and pulsed-gradient spin-echo (PGSE) diffusion under variable temperature conditions. Synthetic (Laponite) and natural (Swy-2) ...

This paper reviews the chemical and electrochemical depositions of platinum group metals (PGMs) from aqueous solutions. With a brief introduction on the fundamental aspects of chemical/electrochemical depositions, the review describes recent advances in chemical and Abbreviations: CD, cathode current density expressed as amperes per cm2; CE, cathode current efficiency; dc, direct current; DMFC,...

The effect of the Au coated printed circuit board (PCB) as a current collector on performance fuel cells is demonstrated. In this study, optimized pulse electroplating was introduced, which found to be much more effective compared direct (DC) plating for PCB fabrication based passive area from potentiodynamic polarization scan. Variable electrochemical parameters such applied potential and freq...