Microfabrication of a polymer based Bi-conductive membrane for a polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell

This paper reports a novel fabrication process of a high active area ratio bi-conductive membrane for PEMFCs. The fabricated device is a 50μm thick flexible polyimide based membrane that integrates for the first time lateral electrical conductive layers on both sides with a through ionic conductive path. With the use of thermo-conductive rubber as a bonding agent allowing a quick-flip process, five configurations of double-sided multilayer metal sputtering on polyimide were tested. An approach for filling through pores in the membrane with the ionic conductor (Nafion) with a temporary reservoir was also developed. The development of these new processes allowed to fabricate a membrane with 50μm wide holes filled with ionic conductor with double-sided electrical conductive layers.