Abstract:

Direct methanol fuel cells(DMFCs)are one of the most promising candidates for the next generation power sources in miniature electronic devices due to their high energy density, convenient storage of fuel, simple structure.DMFCs use methanol as fuel at anode and oxygen or air as oxidant at cathode, and these reactants are consumed at porous electrode by electrochemical reactions which lead to their concentration fluctuation and cell performance variation.So, adequate detection of the reactant concentration is necessary for operating DMFC systems, because they have important influence on the performance, efficiency and fuel utilization.In this paper the methods for measurement of reactants concentration in the DMFC are reviewed, and can be generally classified into physical and chemical two groups.Comments and analysis are given on their basic principles and application range as well as their merits and demerits.