The commercialization of small fuel cell chargers is proceeding rapidly, with the first portable units potentially hitting stores as early as next year. One of the companies on the forefront of fuel cell development (they recently signed a deal with Duracell) is MTI Micro. Their Direct Methanol Fuel Cells (DMFC) will be shown this week at the Fuel Cell Expo in Japan. The biggest benefit of DMFCs is that they keep portable electronics products running for longer than conventional batteries and make recharging much easier. From the article,
“DMFCs produce electricity from a reaction between methanol, water and air. The only by-products of the reaction are a small amount of water vapor and carbon dioxide, so the fuel cells are typically seen as a much greener form of energy than traditional batteries. A big advantage of DMFCs is that they can be replenished with a new cartridge of methanol in seconds. The cell-phone DMFC prototype takes advantage of this quick replenish and potentially offers an immediate recharge when the battery dies, while the camera DMFC provides twice the energy of a Lithium Ion battery-based grip.”
Before the cell phone unit hits, MTI is planning to release a DMFC-based charger. Equipped with a usb input, this device would be able to recharge a cell phone about eight to 10 times. A replacement methanol cartridge would give you another month. Obviously, for road warriors or people out in the field, the advantages of having such a power source would be enormous. MTI expects these chargers to be available in early 2009.
Check out the article for more details.
