Rapid and simple assembly of a thin microfluidic fuel cell stack by gas-assisted thermal bonding

Mahmoodi, Seyed Reza; Mayer, Matthew T.; Besser, R.S.

doi:10.1016/j.apenergy.2021.117011

Cited by 6 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 59 publications

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“…[1][2][3] Fuel cells have been regarded as one of the most promising solutions owing to their distinctive features such as high energy conversion efficiency, superior power density and zero pollutant emission. [4][5][6] Unfortunately, in the portable electronic fields, miniaturization of the popular proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFC) encountered challenges from the indispensable core component, proton exchange membrane. 7,8 The membrane mechanical and chemical degradation and the issues such as the liquid water management, fuel crossover and integration difficulties have retarded the large-scale commercial application of PEMFC in the consumer electronics market.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The wide application of electronic devices in the daily life drives the market demand for a clean and efficient energy technology 1‐3 . Fuel cells have been regarded as one of the most promising solutions owing to their distinctive features such as high energy conversion efficiency, superior power density and zero pollutant emission 4‐6 . Unfortunately, in the portable electronic fields, miniaturization of the popular proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFC) encountered challenges from the indispensable core component, proton exchange membrane 7,8 .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Optimal design of reactant delivery system in microfluidic fuel cell with porous electrodes

Xie

Shan

et al. 2022

Intl J of Energy Research

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Summary Reactant delivery systems with different shaped inlet reservoirs bring significant volume increase to microfluidic fuel cells (MFCs). In this work, a two‐dimensional model is constructed for the flow through type MFC with porous electrodes and systematic analyses are performed for the optimization of the reactant delivery system to reduce the volume cost and meanwhile enhance the cell performance. Corresponding results show that though reservoir is essential in the MFC system, a narrow channel with a width on the order of a few tenths of a millimeter is already enough for the reactant distribution and thus the inlet reservoir size can be greatly reduced (93.33% under the flow rate of 300 μL min−1) without sacrificing the cell performance. A high flexibility is allowed for the reactant inlet size of the reservoir in the cases with high flow rates while larger inlet size is preferred in the cases with low flow rates. Optimal inlet position locates in the section close to the current collectors in the ohmic‐loss dominated cases. Yet, it moves to the middle section of the system with the decrease of reactant concentration or flow rate as concentration loss is responsible for the major performance loss in these cases. The results could provide instructive guidance for the optimization of reactant delivery system in MFC with porous electrodes.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Optimal design of reactant delivery system in microfluidic fuel cell with porous electrodes

Xie

Shan

et al. 2022

Intl J of Energy Research

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“…Microfluidic fuel cell (MFC) emerges in this context. [9][10][11] MFC is a promising technology which employs the laminar flow interface between the anolyte and catholyte in the microchannel as a virtual membrane to keep the oxidant reduction reaction and fuel oxidation reaction separated. [12,13] Thus, MFC could operate without a physical membrane, giving a different strategy for developing miniaturized power sources with a number of advantages including elimination of membrane-associated problems, flexible reactant choice, simple device structure, and low fabrication cost.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

In‐Depth Analysis of Electrochemical Reaction Rate Distribution in Microfluidic Fuel Cell with Flow‐Through Electrodes

Ling

Shan

et al. 2022

Energy Tech

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Nonuniform reaction rate distributions are commonly observed in the microfluidic fuel cell (MFC) systems, which bring a significant limit to the cell output. Herein, systematic analyses are performed to explore the electrochemical reaction rate distributions in the flow‐through electrodes of MFCs, and in‐depth understanding of the distribution mechanisms under various operating conditions is presented via a MFC performance simulation model. The results demonstrate that the high‐reaction‐rate regions locate at the inner parts of the flow‐through electrodes in the high flow rate and high‐reactant concentration cases which are ohmic‐resistance dominated, while moving toward the outer parts of the electrodes with the decreasing of flow rate and/or reactant concentration due to the increased concentration‐related activation resistance. A series of performance enhancement strategies are also proposed and examined. It is found that smaller electrode aspect ratio, reduced electrode distance, excess supporting electrolyte, and larger specific surface area are desirable in the high flow rate and high‐reactant concentration cases, which can boost the cell performances significantly. This work can contribute to the optimal designs of microfluidic fuel cells under various application scenarios in the future.

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Boost performance of porous electrode for microfluidic fuel cells: electrochemical modification or structure optimization?

Xü

Wang

et al. 2021

Intl J of Energy Research

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Rapid and simple assembly of a thin microfluidic fuel cell stack by gas-assisted thermal bonding

Cited by 6 publications

References 59 publications

Optimal design of reactant delivery system in microfluidic fuel cell with porous electrodes

Optimal design of reactant delivery system in microfluidic fuel cell with porous electrodes

In‐Depth Analysis of Electrochemical Reaction Rate Distribution in Microfluidic Fuel Cell with Flow‐Through Electrodes

Boost performance of porous electrode for microfluidic fuel cells: electrochemical modification or structure optimization?

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