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Toshiba Launches Direct Methanol Fuel Cell for Mobile Phones
Toshiba has announced the launch of its first direct methanol fuel-cell product for mobile phones - the Dynario. The fuel-cell runs on mix of methanol and ambient oxygen, and the chemical reaction between the two in the fuel cell produces electricity.
The palm-sized Dynario is Toshiba's first direct-methanol fuel cell (DMFC) product. Once fueled with an injection of methanol solution from its dedicated cartridge, Dynario starts to generate electricity that is delivered to a digital consumer product - a mobile phone or a digital media player - via a USB cable. On a single refill of methanol which can be made in an instant period (around 20 seconds), Dynario can generate enough power to charge two typical mobile phones.
A fuel feed structure realizes uniform methanol delivery, and stable output to any attached device is fine-tuned by a built-in microcomputer. Performance is also optimized by Dynario's hybrid structure, which uses a lithium-ion battery charged by the fuel cell to store electricity. The dedicated fuel cartridge was co-developed with Toyo Seikan Kaisha, one of Japan's leading packaging container companies.
Toshiba will gauge customer reaction and opinion from the Japanese release of Dynario and reflect them in the development of future DMFC products.
Posted to the site on 25th October 2009