A water management system for metal-based micro passive direct methanol fuel cells

A novel water management system for micro passive DMFC is fabricated and characterized in this paper. This system consists of both a cathode current collector made of a 316L sintered stainless fiber felt (SSFF) and an aluminum-based end plate fabricated with a perforated flow field. Besides, some water-collecting channels were fabricated on the surface of the cathode end plate and then covered by the plasma electrolytic oxidation (PEO) coating. The results show that the PEO coating plays crucial roles in the water management system. Because of the highly hydrophilic property of the coating, the channels work well in collecting the liquid water from the current collector, and water accumulation along the air-breathing holes can be well prevented, which improves the stability of the micro DMFC. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.