The fabrication and performance of a poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS)-based microreformer for application to electronics

A miniaturized poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS)-based methanol steam reformer having a serpentine microchannel for application in a proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) has been developed. The fabricated PDMS microreformer consists of four layers, and a commercial thin-flexible heater for reforming reaction is embedded in the PDMS layers. The volume of a PDMS microreformer is about 10 cm 3 . The commercial Cu / ZnO / Al 2 O 3 reforming catalyst was used and the Cu / ZnO / Al 2 O 3 reforming catalyst particles of mean diameter 50 – 70 μ m was packed into the microchannels by fluidized method. In this study, the miniaturized PDMS microreformer was operated successfully in the operating temperatures of 180 – 240 ∘ C and 30–40% molar methanol conversion was achieved in the temperature range for the feed rate of 10 and 50 μ l min - 1 .