PALO ALTO, Calif.-Unit shipments of micro fuel cells for portable devices are expected to reach $125.2 million by 2010, according to new research from Frost & Sullivan.
“Once fuel cells enter the mainstream market, they will provide significant improvements in energy storage and also allow portable electronic devices to incorporate new features while simultaneously increasing their operating time,” said Sara Bradford, Frost & Sullivan industry manager.
Interest in micro fuel cells is being driven by their ability to deliver more energy per volume weight compared with existing lithium-ion rechargeable battery technologies, according to the report.
“Current advanced lithium-ion rechargeable batteries offer only three hours of continuous operating time while micro fuel cells could provide 20 or more hours of usage time, even in high-drain portable devices,” said Bradford.
Micro fuel cells could face several challenges, including greater attention required for transporting and packaging toxic materials, methanol crossover, catalyst/membrane interference, membrane operating conditions and electrode flooding in conventional proton exchange membrane-based direct methanol fuel cells. In addition, micro fuel cells must be mass produced at a reasonable price to achieve larger-scale acceptance.
