NOVELTY - The direct methanol fuel cell comprises a cell (12) including a membrane electrode assembly comprising an anode (16), a cathode (13) and a polymer electrolyte membrane (19) disposed between the anode and the cathode, a fuel tank for holding the fuel, a pump (27) for supplying the fuel to the anode, a pump (26) for supplying an oxidant to the cathode, an anode current collector plate in contact with the anode, and a cathode current collector plate in contact with the cathode. The direct methanol fuel cell contains methanol or a methanol aqueous solution with a methanol concentration.    USE - The direct methanol fuel cell is useful as a portable general-purpose power source for households, electric vehicles, and mobile devices such as cell phones and notebook personal computers.    ADVANTAGE - The direct methanol fuel cell is compact, has excellent long-term life characteristics, good initial voltages and voltage retention rates, enhanced cell characteristics, high efficiency, less power consumption, light-weight and improved power generation performance.    DETAILED DESCRIPTION - The direct methanol fuel cell comprises a cell (12) including a membrane electrode assembly comprising an anode (16), a cathode (13) and a polymer electrolyte membrane (19) disposed between the anode and the cathode, a fuel tank for holding the fuel, a pump (27) for supplying the fuel to the anode, a pump (26) for supplying an oxidant to the cathode, an anode current collector plate in contact with the anode, and a cathode current collector plate in contact with the cathode. The direct methanol fuel cell contains methanol or a methanol aqueous solution with a methanol concentration of greater than or equal to 3 mol/L as the fuel. The cathode includes a cathode catalyst layer (14) in contact with the polymer electrolyte membrane, and a cathode diffusion layer (15) in contact with the cathode catalyst layer. The cathode catalyst layer includes a cathode catalyst, a catalyst support supported on the cathode catalyst, and a polymer electrolyte. A weight ratio of the polymer electrolyte to the catalyst support is 0.3-0.5. The cathode catalyst layer in a dry state has a porosity of 60-80%. The catalyst support is a carbon material and carbon nanofibers. The anode current collector plate and the cathode current collector plate each have through-holes, which penetrate through the thickness of the current collector plate. The fuel tank is disposed on the other side of the anode current collector plate from the side in contact with the anode. The fuel contained in the fuel tank is supplied to the anode through the through-holes in the anode current collector plate. An oxidant is supplied to the cathode through the through-holes in the cathode current collector plate. An amount of the polymer electrolyte contained in the cathode catalyst layer is 0.1-1 mg/cm2.    DESCRIPTION OF DRAWING(S) - The diagram shows a schematic view of a direct methanol fuel cell.    Cell (12)    Cathode (13)    Cathode catalyst layer (14)    Cathode diffusion layer (15)    Anode (16)    Polymer electrolyte membrane (19)    Oxidant supply pump (26)    Fuel supply pump. (27)