Integration of micro temperature sensor and metal foil as gas diffusion layer for micro fuel cell

Fuel cells will be applied extensively in the future as renewable energy sources, explaining why a considerable amount of research has addressed this topic. However, among the various problems encountered in the mass production of fuel cells that have yet to be solved include those associated with the bipolar plate, flow channel, catalyst, membrane electrode assembly (MEA), gas diffusion layer (GDL) and components. Given the present non-uniformity of gas reactions and the difficulty of measuring the temperature in a fuel cell, this study employs micro-electro-mechanical-systems (MEMS) to integrate a micro temperature sensor and a stainless steel foil as a gas diffusion layer. Experimental results reveal that the micro temperature sensor had an accuracy and sensitivity of 0.5degC and 2.7times10^-3/degC, respectively.