Direct Methanol Fuel Cell Corp. (DMFCC) has been formed to commercialize the direct methanol fuel cell technology developed at the NASA/Caltech Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) and the University of Southern California (USC, Los Angeles, CA).
DMFCC, Caltech and USC have signed a letter of intent for DMFCC to acquire rights to 22 issued, and over 40 pending, US and foreign patents, including the original and fundamental patent for using methanol dissolved in water as the fuel. In exchange, Caltech and USC will become equity shareholders in DMFCC and receive a royalty on sales.
DMFCC CEO Carl Kukkonen, stated, "Direct methanol has two significant advantages. First, methanol is a readily available liquid fuel, whereas hydrogen is a gas. Second, our fuel cell uses methanol directly as a liquid in a low temperature system, without needing to reform it into hydrogen gas. Therefore, it is well suited to portable and mobile applications."
DMFCC is actively seeking investors and strategic partners for its activities.
