Gizmodo: Fuel Cells

MIT Scientists Increase Fuel Cell Efficiency 50%

Kit Eaton — Tue, 20 May 2008 07:17:07 EDT

Scientists at MIT have been tackling the efficiency of next-gen power source fuel cells, and have discovered how to significantly improve it. Most current direct-methanol fuel cells use a membrane called Nafion sandwiched between their electrodes, and apparently it's got a flaw. As well as letting hydrogen nucleii through to drive the power-generating process, it apparently also leaks methanol, lowering the efficiency of the cell. By coating the Nafion with a new material (kept secret for now) the boffins have plugged the leak and have been able to measure up to 50% efficiency increases. What's this mean for us? Well, longer-lasting fuel cells in our future gizmos of course. [Reghardware]

Sony Hybrid Fuel Cell Delivers 14 Hours of Cellphone Video, Will Arrive "Soon"

Elaine Chow — Sat, 03 May 2008 15:00:00 EDT

Sony's new hybrid fuel cell 1.2 x 2-inch battery prototype has managed to keep the juice flowing to a cellular video broadcast for 14 consecutive hours off of 10mL of methanol. The micro fuel cell system uses methanol as fuel and is complemented with a Li-polymer secondary battery to help it deal with electronic peak loads. And according to the R&D team behind it, it may arrive to your gadgets "soon."

The battery prototype was made by the R&D team at Sony Material Laboratory, which told spectators at the Small Fuel Cells 2008 expo that it was in talks with Sony's operation division to push the tech out soon. Looks like the day when our gadgets can stay unplugged and awake longer than we can might finally have arrived. [Tech On]

DOT Says Fuel Cells Can Fly; FAA Still Afraid They Might Fry

Wilson Rothman — Thu, 01 May 2008 09:23:04 EDT

The US DOT has approved transportation of methanol fuel cell cartridges in your baggage and carry-on luggage, according to one fuel-cell maker. If you're lucky enough to own a fuel-cell system, you'll definitely be able to fly with it come October, when the ruling goes into effect. But this ruling only allows you to carry the cells, not use them on the plane. I looked into it, and the FAA, a division of the DOT, is still apparently evaluating the fire hazards associated with in-flight operation.

Looking at the gamut of fuel cells (and not just the methanol ones covered in the ruling), the FAA appears to be afraid that the little chemical powerplants might explode. According to an FAA report from April 2: "Fuel sources [in fuel cells] range from highly flammable to relatively inert."

In addition to standard evaluation, the FAA says it will conduct "flammability tests...on existing fuel cartridges." And not just on individual units. From what I can tell of this report, somewhere the FAA will soon, or already has, set fire to bulk containers of fuel cells, and tried to ignite fuel cells that are in operation, connected to laptops or other electronics:And I thought my job was fun. [Press Release on DOT Ruling; FAA PDF on Flammability Testing]

Samsung Water-Powered Cellphone On the Way

Charlie White — Fri, 12 Oct 2007 17:00:41 EDT

We heard about the remote possibility of water-powered cellphones over a year ago, but now Samsung has actually developed one. The company announced a micro fuel cell and hydrogen generator that will be capable of powering small electronics such as cellphones for 10 hours on nothing but good old water.

At first the company says the fuel will be in the form of hydrogen cartridges that must be changed every four days or so if you use the phone for four hours a day. Later, Samsung plans to evolve the design so all you'll need to do is put some water in your cellphone and you're good to go. Don't expect anything like this anytime soon, though, because the first water-powered phones won't hit the market until 2010. [Chosun]

Fuel Cell Beverage Heater Keeps Your Coffee Drinkable

Adam Frucci — Wed, 13 Jun 2007 15:40:00 EDT

Nothing is worse than having a hot cup of coffee turn into a chilly mug of awful without you realizing it, only to take a shocking sip an hour after you've gotten to work and need another caffeine boost. Enter the Fuel Cell Beverage Heater.

It's a wee device that hangs on the side of your mug, keeping your joe piping hot, just the way you like it. It even has "thermographic ink [that] changes color to indicate when the beverage is hot." Well, it would, at least, if it wasn't just a concept design. Damn you, concept designs, getting my hopes up for products that don't even exist! –Adam Frucci

Yanko Design [via MobileMag]

CES 2007: Jadoo Fuel Cell Technology are Next-Gen Generators

Adam Frucci — Thu, 04 Jan 2007 12:39:15 EST

Next week at CES Jadoo Power will be showing off their hot, hot fuel cell battery technology for all to see. They've got their XRT adapter, basically a generator that runs on fuel cells, and then their N-Stor and N-Gen fuel cell canisters to give it the juice.

There are plenty of benefits to getting power this way when you're out in the field or the lines are down; it's lightweight, can last up to 11 hours on a single canister, and is totally environmentally friendly. The downside? A fully configured XRT system will set you back a whopping $8,000. That's a lot to pay for a portable generator, but as this tech becomes more affordable in the coming years look to see gasoline generators go the way of the Dodo. –Adam Frucci

Product Page [Jadoo Power]

Fuel Cell Cellphone Charger: Goes Great with Your Prius

www.gizmodo.com — Mon, 04 Dec 2006 11:21:38 EST

We might not be seeing fuel cell cars anytime soon, but at least we'll be able to use the technology to power some of our stuff. Like cell phones, for example.

Samsung and SAIT have developed this diminutive charger using fuel cell technology to ensure that you never run out of juice again. Simply pop in little methanol cartridges to keep the juice loose and you're set. You know, since methanol cartridges can be bought at the corner store and everything. Look for this technology to be hitting by 2009. –Adam Frucci

Daily Tech [via Oh Gizmo!]

Maxell Aluminum Fuel Cell

johnb — Tue, 25 Apr 2006 12:14:53 EDT

Maxell, a company that once made audio tapes so special and so cool that you only recorded your band on them exclusively and then, like, sent the tape around to all kinds of labels, like exclusively because it was so professional, has created an aluminum fuel cell that runs on water. According to the bastardized translation, it should produce about 10W of power using standard materials and turns water into hydrogen which then powers a standard fuel cell.

If anyone can hit the original, let us know what's really up.

Maxell introduces Fuel Cell using Water and Aluminum [Treehugger]

Antig's Fuel Cells For Laptops Showing At CeBIT Next Week

gizmodo.com — Thu, 02 Mar 2006 16:50:53 EST

Taiwan's Antig Technology and AVC Corp will be showing off a fuel cell for laptops at next week's CeBIT Trade Show. They're saying their fuel cell is production-ready and can go into laptops by the second half of this year.

While we here at Gizmodo love the idea of anything that allows us to stay outdoors for longer to write this blog, at least in warm weather, you'll have to pardon our strong (but loving) skepticism when it comes to fuel cells actually making it into consumer laptops anytime this year. After all, in 2003 NEC was saying fuel cell-powered laptops would be out in 2004 and that by 2006 they expected "the fuel cell to be much more efficient and run for almost 40 hours without needing a top-up." Ha! Toshiba's also been meaning to ship fuel cells in their laptops since 2004, but admitted at CeBIT 2005 that it'd probably be three more years before they could actually commercialize them.

Notebook-Ready Fuel Cell To Be Shown Next Week [ExtremeTech]
Toshiba shows fuel cell prototype [IDG News Service]
Fuel cell laptop promises long life [BBC News]

Honda FCX Fuel Cell Vehicle to Go Into Production

Charlie White — Tue, 07 Feb 2006 13:45:40 EST

Honda announced it will began building a new fuel cell vehicle, with the first Honda FCX model hydrogen-powered fuel cell car rolling off the assembly line within three or four years. Along with unique ways of arranging the fuel cells within the vehicle, Honda also dreamed up an idea for obtaining the hydrogen necessary to fuel this baby.

Called the Home Energy Station, it gins up hydrogen right there in your garage, converting it from readily-available natural gas. Not only would you be able to use that hydrogen for the vehicle, you could also use it in fuel cells that would provide electricity for your house as well. Tanks positioned under the car s trunk will hold enough hydrogen to keep its fuel cells humming for 350 miles. Honda says this system can save 50% on not only vehicle fuel bills, but household electricity, too.

By the way, also inside the Honda FCX concept car at the Detroit Auto Show was a 3D-rendering navigation system, whose point of view hovers at street level when you're turning, but returns to a bird s-eye view for long cruises. If the production vehicle is anywhere near as spectacular as this concept car, this I gotta see. No pricing available yet.

Hydrogen-Powered Honda FCX to go Into Production [Automotive News]

Well Believe When We See It: Samsungs Tiny Fuel Cell

Charlie White — Thu, 02 Feb 2006 15:50:21 EST

Is it real? Samsung announced it has developed a prototype of a fuel cell that can be used in PDAs and portable multimedia players. This fuel cell technology works by converting methanol fuel into hydrogen which is combined with oxygen in a seemingly magic process that [insert miracle here] results in energy and heat, with water as a byproduct. In this case, that energy powers a 1.5-watt multimedia player that Samsung said can run up to four hours on one fuel cartridge. Samsung said it plans to bring these fuel cells onto the commercial market by 2007 or 2008. The company also mentioned another fuel cell for multimedia players that's in the pipeline that may be able to run for 10 hours on a single cartridge. This is not the first fuel cell announcement we've heard from Samsung, where last November the company boasted of a 15-hour battery life for a fuel cell it said it had developed for use in laptops. Announcements are one thing; let's see some working products. I'm just wondering, if these devices ever do make it to market, will the TSA let you carry these things on board aircraft?

Practical Fuel Cells? [UberGizmo]

Panasonic Digs In for Recyclable Energy

tgrumet — Wed, 11 Jan 2006 11:42:07 EST

I always like to hear more about fuel cells and Panasonic came out with some good news on this front with its announcement of a new fuel supply method, that would halve the size of current fuel cells—perfect for powering portable devices. Called the Direct Methanol Fuel Cell system, the cell itself is 400cc (24 cubic inches), about the size of a soda can, with an average output of 13 watts, a peak output of 20 watts, and low weight. This bodes well for carrying around and charging things like laptops (which could get up to 20 hours of runtime!). It was demo'd at CES, so let's cross our fingers that we'll actually see it sometime soon.

Matsushita Battery Develops New Micro Fuel Cell Technology
For Portable Electronics Devices [Panasonic]

Blue LED Inventor May Have Created Water-Based Fuel Cells

gizmogo — Fri, 28 Oct 2005 10:20:55 EDT

I have Shuji Nakamara to thank for the cool blue LEDs that have adorned my fancy modded PC, and now it sounds like he may offer yet another reason for me to heap praise on the guy. The inventor of blue LEDs along with a Tokyo University team have successfully created hydrogen from water using galium nitride crystals and electrolysis. While the conversion was tiny, this could apparently lead to the creation of water-based fuel cells. According to the Nihon Keizai Shimbun newspaper in Japan, the conversion efficiency need only be raised to over 20 percent before the technique can be commercialized. Definitely cooler than the blue LEDs. And I won't get in trouble for peeing on my keyboard.

Update
Just to clarify, the unique thing here isn't the electrolysis (that's pretty old hat high school science), but that Nakamara used galium nitride crystals to do it. Also, I should say that while the conversion was inefficient, it doesn't mean it was "tiny", like I originally mentioned (just meant that the efficiency was tiny). [Thanks Brian!]

Blue LED inventor promises water fuel cells [The Inquirer]

Canon Invests in Fuel Cell Future

tgrumet — Tue, 25 Oct 2005 14:40:20 EDT

As portable electronics become more accessible, prolonging battery life is the number one industry problem. Whether its cellphones, laptops or digital cameras, we've all been caught holding dead pieces of equipment, wishing we had some extra juice. To assuage this, Canon has announced that it will begin developing tiny fuel cells that will eventually replace conventional batteries for its printers and digital cameras. Canon's new system would take hydrogen straight from a refillable cartridge, making it more environmentally friendly. The company is also looking into replacing LCDs with Organic Light-Emitting Diodes that it will produce in-house. Other companies diligently working on fuel cell technology include technology include Toshiba, NEC and Hitachi.

Canon to develop fuel cells for printers, cameras [Reuters]