Rapid, simple and low cost fabrication of a microfluidic direct methanol fuel cell based on polydimethylsiloxane

In this paper a simple and rapid fabrication method for a microfluidic direct methanol fuel cell using polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) as substrate is demonstrated. A gold layer on PDMS substrate as seed layer was obtained by chemical plating instead of conventional metal evaporation or sputtering. The morphology of the gold layer can be controlled by adjusting the ratio of curing agent to the PDMS monomer. The chemical properties of the gold films were examined. Then catalyst nanoparticles were grown on the films either by cyclic voltammetry or electrophoretic deposition. The microfluidic fuel cell was assembled by simple oxygen plasma bonding between two PDMS substrates. The cell operated at room temperature with a maximum power density around 6.28 mW cm ^-2. Such a fuel cell is low-cost and easy to construct, and is convenient to be integrated with other devices because of the viscosity of the PDMS. This work will facilitate the development of miniature on-chip power sources for portable electronic devices.