Design and fabrication of direct methanol fuel cell current collector with temperature sensors

Abstract

Temperature is an important parameter that affects the direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC) performance, so a system that controls and monitors the DMFC inner temperature would be helpful. The temperature sensors generally added into DMFCs are seldom embedded into bipolar plates, which might increase the device assembly complexity. In this study, we adopt the micro-electromechanical system (MEMS) technique to construct resistance temperature detector (RTD) sensors onto current collectors to increase the measurement accuracy and reduce the DMFC assembly complexity. The applicable measurement range of the RTD sensors fabricated onto the current collectors is designed to be between 30 and 60 ?. The sensitivity of the RDT sensors is about 0.5 Ω/?. The developed sensor adopts a plug-in design to enhance measurement convenience.