Fuel cells aim to keep cellphones running all day

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Jul. 14, 2006

NTT DoCoMo and Aquafairy Co. are co-developing "micro" fuel cells intended to help keep DoCoMo's FOMA 3G handset customers' devices running all day, despite increased use of numerous battery-sucking wireless services. Additionally, the companies will showcase a prototype of the "world's smallest" two-watt recharger based on a polymer electrolyte fuel cell (PEFC) next week.

Last year's methanol-based prototype

Last summer, DoCoMo unveiled a methanol-based micro fuel cell prototype, developed in partnership with Fujitsu Laboratories Ltd. It had the ability to charge up to three FOMA handset batteries from just 18 cc of methanol, according to DoCoMo. It weighed in at 6.7 oz (190 g).

DoCoMo's 2005 methanol-based micro fuel cell prototype
(Click each image to enlarge)

DoCoMo's methanol-based fuel cell technology

This year's technology

The newer PEFC technology eliminates the use of methanol. This results in higher power density, and is also less harmful to the environment due to converting water into hydrogen, DoCoMo says. The "easily portable" PEFC-based recharger can charge a handset several times, and has a charging time comparable to that of an AC adapter, according to the company.

The "simple hydrogen-producing mechanism and power units" used in the PEFC-based approach result in a recharger that is less than a quarter the size and more than twice as powerful as last year's methanol fuel cell prototype, DoCoMo says.

The 2006 prototype merges DoCoMo recharger technology with Aquafairy's thin film power unit technology and catalyst for producing hydrogen from water.

DoCoMo will exhibit the PEFC recharger prototype at its booth the Wireless Japan 2006 conference in Tokyo, July 19 through 21.

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Home \| News \| About \| Contact

	Ziff Davis Enterprise Home \| Contact Us \| Advertise \| Link to Us \| Reprints \| Magazine Subscriptions \| Newsletters Tech RSS Feeds \| White Papers \| ROI Calculators \| Tech Podcasts \| Tech Video \| VARs \| Channel News
	Baseline \| Careers \| Channel Insider \| CIO Insight \| DesktopLinux \| DeviceForge \| DevSource \| eSeminars \| eWEEK \| Enterprise Network Security \| LinuxDevices \| Linux Watch \| Microsoft Watch \| Mid-market \| Networking \| PDF Zone \| Publish \| Security IT Hub \| Strategic Partner \| Web Buyer's Guide \| Windows for Devices
	Developer Shed \| Dev Shed \| ASP Free \| Dev Articles \| Dev Hardware \| SEO Chat \| Tutorialized \| Scripts \| Code Walkers \| Web Hosters \| Dev Mechanic \| Dev Archives \| igrep
Use of this site is governed by our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. Except where otherwise specified, the contents of this site are copyright © 1999-2008 Ziff Davis Enterprise Holdings Inc. All Rights Reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written permission of Ziff Davis Enterprise is prohibited.