Abstract
In this paper, we proposed a micro-droplets fuel automatically supply system (a-MiDFuel system) for direct methanol fuel cells (DMFCs) by piezoelectric actuation. This new type fuel supply mode can not only improve power density while lower down carried fuel volume in DMFCs, but also simplify the system structure and reduce balance of plants (BOPs). When compared to traditional fuel circulatory systems, the a-MiDFuel system can tolerate higher methanol concentration and utilize less power for operation, resulting in a higher peak power density at 32.5m W*cm -2 than that (20.5mW*cm -2 ) of the circulatory system at constant voltage mode of 0.4V. An automatic controlling logic was employed to keep the system outputting a stable power of 12.5mW *cm -2 at drop-on-demand feeding mode. Copyright © (2013) by the Chemical and Biological Microsystems Society All rights reserved. All rights reserved.