Silicon-based micro-polymer electrolyte fuel cells

In this paper, we present micro-polymer electrolyte fuel cells (μ-PEFCs) with advantages such as full wafer-level process capability, miniaturization and integration with various MEMS components. We propose two kinds of novel structures, "Alternating structure" and "Coplanar structure", which are different from a conventional bipolar/unipolar structure. The μ-PEFCs with the alternating structure was fabricated and tested at room temperature using pure hydrogen as fuel. The output power was not high (μW class). The reasons include 1) unstable PEM adhesion, 2) poor catalytic electrodes, and 3) cross-talk among electrodes on the same substrate. We found that one of the most important things for cell performance is keeping a stable contact between the PEM and the electrodes.