This work reports the successful reduction in methanol crossover by creating a thin cracked metal barrier at the interface between a Nafion (R) membrane and an electrode in direct methanol fuel cells (DMFCs). The cracks are generated by simple mechanical stretching of a metal deposited Nafion (R) membrane as a result of the elastic mismatch between the two attached surfaces. The cracked metal barriers with varying strains (similar to 0.5 and similar to 1.0) are investigated and successfully incorporated into the DMFC. Remarkably, the membrane electrode assembly with the thin metal crack exhibits comparable ohmic resistance as well as reduction of methanol crossover, which enhanced the device performance. (C) 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.