In this paper, a capillary-force-based mu DMFC(micro direct methanol fuel cell) supplied with pure methanol is presented. A 2D (two-dimensional) steady state model is established to investigate the methanol distribution inside the low concentration chamber with the barrier layer patterned on different diffusion materials. Simulation results illustrate that both methanol diffusion coefficient of the barrier layer and the effective mass transfer area have significant effects on inner methanol distribution. In addition, the effect of capillary force at both inlet and outlet ends of the capillary channel between the pure methanol and the low concentration methanol are simulated. To further prove the feasibility of this supply method, a 3D (three-dimensional) transient model is finally established to monitor the variation of methanol concentration with the change of the operating duration. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.