The PCB manufacturing process has been applied to the DMFC package which is especially suitable for the planar type DMFC module design. Maintaining the planar DMFC in good operating condition is an important task. This paper discusses the cathode airflow effect on the single cell and also on the 3-cell planar DMFC module. In the single cell study, the research starts from the airflow rate to airflow velocity viewpoint. In the DMFC module study, a 3-cell DMFC module, a substitute of 3-Cell PCB DMFC module, with a parallel flow board are compared. The results indicate that providing suitable cathode airflow velocity is more important than merely considering the airflow rate in the DMFC single or 3-cell DMFC module. (C) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.