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Trend Analysis of Direct Methanol Fuel Cell
[2008, November 22]
1. Introduction
Energy consumption of mobile devices including cell-phones and laptops has been increasing with their data traffic increases and improved processing capacities. Meanwhile lithium-ion secondary batteries do not last long enough to address increased energy consumption. Then the expectation for fuel cells is increasing. Especially, a direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC) is attracting attention, which require no reformers and suitable for miniaturization. Although the practical application of DMFC has stagnated over the last few years, this year we see some moves indicating the practical application. For instance, Toshiba exhibited cell phones equipped with DMFC at CEATEC2008 . Their sizes were deemed appropriate as cell phones, although they were equipped with DMFC. Additionally, Panasonic introduced prototype models of fuel cells systems for mobile devices in October, whose energy outputs were the same as those of the company’s conventional prototype models with the half sizes of the conventional ones . These moves imply that DMFC could be commercially available on the assumption that it would be applied to mobile devices. It is expected that people in the future could use DMFC for a long time use outside or securing energy supply in an emergency, and use lithium-ion cells at other times.