Parade of prototypes
Medis is working on a refuelable cartridge using liquid methanol without a proton exchange membrane. This would eliminate a development problem for fuel cells: water, generated as part of the reaction product, diffuses through the membrane, leading to unwanted water on one side of the fuel cell. The company's direct liquid methanol fuel cells are expected to be in final prototype form by the middle of this year.
"We'd like to be in production in 2003, which is about when companies will be ready with maximised cell phones and PDAs," Lifton says.
Manhattan Scientifics is developing a "power holster," a portable charger system for battery-powered cell phones. "The end game is to replace the battery," says CEO Marvin Maslow. "For now, rather than do battle with lithium-ion battery manufacturers, we decided to make a holster and put the micro fuel cell inside. When you put the phone in the holster, it trickles energy, so it's always being charged."
The essence of what Manhattan Scientifics has developed is a way to produce fuel cells in a flat printed form. Generally, says Maslow, fuel cells are stacked, and thereby take up a lot of space. Since the key to portable electronics is compactness, Manhattan Scientifics considers itself to be in a competitive position.
Motorola Labs, too, is working with batteries as a recharger. "Our first fuel cell will be a hybrid fuel cell and rechargeable battery," says Jerry Hallmark, manager of Motorola Labs' energy technology lab. "This is a good transitional product."
Motorola says its prototype, is five to six times higher in energy density than lithium-ion batteries. Like the other companies, it is conceptualising a small cartridge, similar to a fountain pen ink cartridge, filled with methanol that is plugged into a device. When it runs out, the user either replaces the cartridge and recycles it, or refills it.
