A Shared Anode Flow Field for Direct Methanol Fuel Cell with Enhanced Performance and Decreased Volume

Low-volume power density remains a significant barrier to the portable application of direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC). Herein, a shared anode flow field (SAFF) structure is introduced in an active DMFC to reduce stack volume and improve discharge performance. The differences in discharge performance between the bi-cell with SAFF and the bi-cell with traditional anode flow field (TAFF), coupled with the effect of operating conditions on performance, are investigated by polarization curve, electrochemical impedance spectra, and voltage versus time curves. The results show that the SAFF structure enhances anode mass transfer, resulting in an improvement in peak power density and voltage stability of the bi-cell compared to the TAFF structure. In addition, the bi-cell with SAFF achieves its highest peak power density at a lower methanol concentration, alleviating the methanol crossover caused by high concentration. The SAFF structure is an attractive choice for DMFC portable applications.