Monday, July 17, 2006
NTT DoCoMo, Inc. and Aquafairy Co. announced today that they agreed to jointly develop a micro fuel cell for 3G FOMA handsets. This agreement follows their successful development of a polymer electrolyte fuel cell (PEFC) that has proven effective in a prototype recharger.
The fuel cell is the smallest in the world with power output of 2 watts as of July 14. The recharger combines DoCoMo's recharger technology with Aquafairy's thin film power unit technology and catalyst for producing hydrogen from water. The simple hydrogen-producing mechanism and power units make the recharger less than one-fourth the size and more than twice as powerful as the methanol fuel cell prototype that DoCoMo unveiled on July 6, 2005. The easily portable recharger can charge a handset several times, and the recharging time is approximately the same as an AC adapter.
The fuel cell is the smallest in the world with power output of 2 watts as of July 14. The recharger combines DoCoMo's recharger technology with Aquafairy's thin film power unit technology and catalyst for producing hydrogen from water. The simple hydrogen-producing mechanism and power units make the recharger less than one-fourth the size and more than twice as powerful as the methanol fuel cell prototype that DoCoMo unveiled on July 6, 2005. The easily portable recharger can charge a handset several times, and the recharging time is approximately the same as an AC adapter.