A design for an air-breathing and passive polymer electrolyte fuel cell is presented. Such a type of fuel cell is in general promising for portable electronics. In the present design, the anode current collector is made of a thin copper foil. The foil is provided with an adhesive and conductive coating, which firstly tightens the hydrogen compartment without mask or clamping pressure, and secondly secures a good electronic contact between the anode backing and the current collector. The cathode comprises a backing, a gold-plated stainless steel mesh and a current collector cut out from a printed circuit board. Three geometries for the cathode current collector were evaluated. Single cells with an active area of 2 cm(2) yielded a peak power of 250-300 MW cm(-2) with air and pure H-2 in a complete passive mode except for the controlled flow of H-2. The cells' response was investigated in steady state and transient modes. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.