Tech firms team up to spark fuel cell UMPCs

Tag : Mobile Phone Battery Charger

Batteries Not Included
A fuel cell is an electrochemical energy conversion device similarto a battery. It produces electricity from a liquid or gaseousfuel, such as methanol, and an oxidant. MTI's Mobion is aproprietary direct methanol fuel cell technology platform thatgenerates electrical power using up to 100 percent methanol asfuel, said Peng Lim, CEO and chairman of MTI.

Fuel cells differ from batteries, which store electrical energychemically in a closed system. Fuel cells consume a reactant, whichmust be replenished. In general, reactants flow in and reactionproducts flow out of the fuel cell. While the electrodes within abattery react and change as a battery is charged or discharged, afuel cell's electrodes are catalytic and relatively stable, hesaid.

Improvements in rechargeable battery technology have not kept pacewith the evolution of consumer electronic device performance , Peng said. Over the last 10 years, device performance as measuredby silicon processor speed has increased by a factor of 128 times,while the energy density of lithium-ion technology has onlydoubled, he explained.

"In addition to their performance shortfalls, lithium ion batterytechnology poses an environmental risk, as the various heavy metalsincorporated in those batteries require special disposal to preventcontamination of waste disposal sites," he told TechNewsWorld.

MTI Micro's fuel cell, according to Peng, is made up of two primarycomponents integrated in an easily manufactured device: the directmethanol fuel cell power engine, dubbed the "Mobion chip," andmethanol replacement cartridges. It weighs less than one ounce andis small enough to fit within the palm of the hand.

"Methanol fuel is widely available, environmentally friendly,inexpensive and fully biodegradable. It allows us to provide acompact, efficient, clean, safe and long-lasting power source. Forthese reasons, we believe that our Mobion platform is ideallysuited to provide a replacement for rechargeable lithium-ionbatteries," he continued. Power Surge
MTI Micro is developing three product categories of the Mobiontechnology, Peng said: external power charger products, snap-on orattached power source products, and embedded power source products.Depending on the company's ability to provide compact, efficient,clean, safe and long-lasting power source for lower-powerapplications , MTI Micro intends to initially offer power solutions forapplications including mobile phones and smartphones, mobile phoneaccessories, digital cameras, portable media players and GPS devices, Peng stated.

The deal with NeoSolar will focus initially on building a Mobionpower source for that company's UMPCs.
"It is the goal of MTI Micro to become a leading provider ofportable power for handheld electronic devices, and we intend tocommercialize Mobion products beginning in 2009," Peng said.