A novel approach for modelling microfluidic fuel cell coupling vibration

Abstract Microfluidic fuel cell (MFC) is an emerging power supply technology for telecommunication base stations and portable instruments that allows long operational time without recharging. Cell performance is severely impaired, however, when the MFC is disturbed by vibrations. To resolve the foregoing problem, a thorough investigation of the vibration mechanism is indispensable. A three-dimensional computational model coupled with multi-physics, including hydrodynamics, electrochemical reaction kinetics, mass transport, and vibration field, is developed for the flow-over and flow-through MFCs in this study. The veracity of the computational model is validated by the agreement between simulation results and experimental data. A comprehensive study, which investigates the influence of vibration parameters (e.g., vibration intensity and frequency) on cell performance, is first conducted to obtain numerical results. The resistance of flow rate and fuel concentration to vibration is thereafter demonstrated. Finally, the effect of vibration on fuel crossover and fuel utilisation is explored. Based on the results of the current study, it is concluded that the anti-vibration property of the flow-through MFC is better than that of the flow-over MFC. The contributions of this study lay the foundation of MFC structure optimisation to further improve the anti-vibration performance.