PolyFuel Inc. (Menlo Park, CA), a provider of direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC) technology for portable devices and laptop computers, released a breakthrough membrane specifically designed for DMFC applications. The PolyFuel DMFC membrane delivers performance and system cost advantages over both traditional lithium-ion batteries and existing fuel cell membrane technology. PolyFuel is currently supplying its DMFC membrane samples to the world's leading consumer electronics manufacturers and other developers of DMFC systems.
"Leading consumer electronics manufacturers acknowledge that limited battery runtimes today restrict the functionality that can be built into portable devices such as laptop computers, tablet PCs, PDAs and mobile phones," said Jim Balcom, president and chief executive officer of PolyFuel. "This problem will only get worse as wireless and other capabilities are added to these devices. The solution to this problem is the DMFC, a new approach to portable power. The PolyFuel DMFC membrane will enable the development of highly efficient, simple, cost-effective, small, light and quiet portable fuel cell power systems that will deliver unlimited, unplugged run times for consumers."
