A novel cathode configuration that promotes the mass transports through the cathode of air-breathing direct methanol fuel cell is reported in this paper. This cathode, free of the Support by conventional wet-proof carbon fiber backing, adopts a gold-plated Ni mesh as the air passages and the Current collector. The cathode microporous layer, which plays the role of air diffusion and water management, is applied oil the catalyst-coated membrane through the decal method. The mesh is combined with the MPL by hot-pressing procedure to form the cathode diffusion medium. The remarkable improvement of two-phase diffusions at cathode results in all increment in maximum power density of the single cell from 11.0 to 15.5 mW cm(-2) at 293 K. Copyright (C) 2008 John Wiley & Soils, Ltd.