Fabrication of microfluidic devices with application to membraneless fuel cells
| dc.contributor.author | McKechnie, Jon | |
| dc.contributor.supervisor | Stinton, David | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2009-12-17T17:27:48Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2009-12-17T17:27:48Z | |
| dc.date.copyright | 2006 | en |
| dc.date.issued | 2009-12-17T17:27:48Z | |
| dc.degree.department | Department of Mechanical Engineering | |
| dc.degree.level | Master of Applied Science M.A.Sc. | en |
| dc.description.abstract | This thesis is part of an ongoing collaborative research project focused on the development of microstructured enzymatic fuel cells. Both enzymatic fuel cells and co-laminar fuel cells are, more generally, varieties of microfluidic membraneless fuel cells. A primary goal of this particular work is the establishment of microfabrication capabilities to develop these technologies. Rapid prototyping soft lithography capabilities are established in-house and protocols specific to the lab equipment are developed. These prototyping methods are then adapted for the fabrication of microfluidic membraneless fuel cells. Fabrication techniques using polymeric stencils and photoresist-based channel structures are developed to enable electrode patterning and current collection in the enzymatic and co-laminar fuel cells of interest. A variety of electrode patterning methods are developed. Gold electrode patterning by etching and lift-off techniques are investigated for the patterning of base electrode layers. An in-situ gold electrode patterning methodology is designed and tested, eliminating the need for precision alignment during device assembly. Carbon electrode patterning methods are developed for use in a vanadium-based colaminar fuel cell. Thin-film carbon electrodes are fabricated using a mixture of carbon microparticles and a polymeric binder. Alternatively, graphite rods are investigated for use as electrodes due to their high conductivity and chemical stability. The integration of channel structure and electrode fabrication methods is investigated to establish compatibilities and facilitate the assembly of functional devices. In addition to the development of these methods, the application of co-laminar streaming to microfabrication is explored through the development of a dynamic microfluidic photomasking device. | en |
| dc.identifier.uri | http://hdl.handle.net/1828/1997 | |
| dc.language | English | eng |
| dc.language.iso | en | en |
| dc.rights | Available to the World Wide Web | en |
| dc.subject | fuel cells | |
| dc.subject | microfluidics | |
| dc.subject | Institute for Integrated Energy Systems (IESVic) | |
| dc.subject.lcsh | UVic Subject Index::Sciences and Engineering::Engineering::Mechanical engineering | en |
| dc.title | Fabrication of microfluidic devices with application to membraneless fuel cells | en |
| dc.type | Thesis | en |