Experimental investigation of the effect of free openings of current collectors on a direct methanol fuel cell

Abstract

A current collector is one of the key components of a direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC). For a planar-type DMFC, the current collector is usually fabricated from a thin metal that has open holes. The geometry of the current collector may have a significant effect on DMFC performance. Therefore, the design of the current collector is important for DMFC design. The objective of this study is to make a systematic experimental investigation of DMFC performance in the presence of current collectors with different free open ratios and total perimeter lengths of the free openings. Current collectors with 5 × 5, 7 × 7, and 10 × 10 hole arrangements under different total free open ratios of 30%, 40%, 50%, and 60% are investigated. The results show that the total free open ratio can significantly affect cell performance; they also show that decreasing the total free open ratio decreases cell performance, and increasing the total free open ratio increases cell performance. A high total free open ratio affects the total contact area between the membrane electrolyte assembly (MEA) and current collectors. Proper consideration of both the total free open ratio and the total contact area between the MEA and current collectors is necessary for the design of DMFC current collectors. In addition, a longer total perimeter of the free openings yields higher cell performance with the same free open ratio of the current collectors.