A review of the experimental studies on passive and semi-passive direct methanol fuel cells (DMFCs) is conducted, with an emphasis on high concentration methanol and pure methanol. Key issues such as methanol transport, water management, oxygen transport, and carbon dioxide release in the DMFC are analyzed in detail. The design and fabrication, development approaches, challenges and opportunities on DMFCs passively fed with high concentration methanol are discussed. The advances of DMFC stacks and prototype developments are presented. Several unresolved issues and challenges in DMFCs are identified and reviewed in detail. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.