July 22 th  2002

More Fuel Cells to be Mounted on Mobile Devices 

Source:  Yasuo Tanokura

               July 22, 2002 (TOKYO) -- There are active moves afoot to mount fuel cells
               on mobile information devices.

               Above all, a news report that circulated in early March -- Casio Computer
               Co., Ltd. developing fuel cells for mobile terminals to go into practical use in
               2004 -- astonished electronics makers in and out of Japan.

               That news was a big surprise for the following three reasons: (1) Casio as an
               equipment maker has no in-group division for the battery business, which
               already had started to develop fuel cells on its own; (2) The launch of such a
               battery for practical use was forwarded to 2004, one or two years earlier
               than other makers; and (3) A concrete product image was visualized by
               presenting a notebook PC mock-up, including a fuel cell lasting 20 hours.

               Manufacturers around the globe are obviously accelerating development and
               commercialization of mobile devices with fuel cells mounted on not only
               notebook PCs, but also on mobile phones, PDAs, camcorders, and other
               devices.

               From Toy Propeller to Finished PC Product

               Originally the road to the installation of fuel cells in mobile information
               terminals was paved by Sony Corp., NEC Corp., Hitachi Ltd. and other
               mobile terminal manufacturers having a battery business unit within
               themselves, including a lithium-ion secondary battery. It was around in the
               summer of 2001.

               Against that backdrop, Casio the latecomer suddenly entered the battery
               industry, causing a big surprise to many existing makers. Fuel cells, based on
               a completely different design concept than existing batteries, can be
               developed by such a newcomer. Casio's case poses the possibility of another
               entry to follow.

               Furthermore, while Sony and other earlier makers had mentioned that it
               would be around in 2005 at the earliest before fuel cells are in practical use,
               Casio declared that its commercialization will start in 2004. After this, Toshiba
               officials openly said that it's too late to start in 2005, and Samsung Advanced
               Institute of Technology of Korea stated that its target is 2004. The
               development of fuel cells is increasingly collecting momentum.

               The mock-up of a fuel cell-equipped notebook revealed by Casio shocked
               rival makers, because what they had prototyped so far was something of a
               lesser scale, enough to drive a toy propeller.

               More and more makers in America, Europe, and Korea announced what they
               have in store, showing fuel cells that are in actual operation on notebooks,
               PDAs, mobile phones, and other completed products, either internally or
               externally.

               Fuel Cell Mounted on a Notebook PC

               In Casio's prototype of a fuel cell-equipped notebook PC, the lithium-ion
               secondary battery pack currently used in a laptop PC is substituted for a fuel
               cell pack (Photo 1: above is a reformer; below power-generating cell). The
               fuel cell pack is included in the hinge binding the keyboard and the LCD
               panel. This pack is only half the weight of a lithium-ion secondary battery, and
               operates a notebook PC for 20 hours. If a cartridge containing methyl alcohol
               (methanol) is replaced with a new one, longer operation is possible.

               One of the most remarkable characteristics of Casio's fuel cell is a high power
               density at 100mW/cm2. This is twice or three times larger than the other
               makers' fuel cells. Thus, Casio's prototype PC can be started up with only
               with power from a small-sized secondary battery, without having to use any
               other secondary battery or a double-layer electrolytic capacitor, Casio says.
               Such high power density was realized by methanol reformer fuel cell. This
               supplies more hydrogen to a generating cell than the direct methanol fuel cell
               (DMFC) currently in the mainstream, providing a higher power density.

               Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE of Germany and Smart
               Fuel Cell GmbH of Germany also are developing notebook PCs powered by
               fuel cells.

               Fuel Cells Attached to Mobile Phones, PDAs

               Many other makers are working on fuel cells to be installed in mobile phones.

               Samsung Advanced Institute of Technology (SAIT) has developed a mobile
               phone with a built-in fuel cell . The fuel cell is as large as
               a credit card, which is attached onto the back of the body of a mobile phone.
               The fuel methanol is stored in a container like an ink cartridge of a fountain
               pen. Depending on the model of a mobile phone, it is estimated to provide 26
               hours of operation at a power consumption of 50mA in a standby status, or
               2.6 hours of duration of call at 500mA. SAIT has developed a new
               electrolyte membrane on its own, a key to heighten the power in DMFC. 

               Installation of fuel cells in PDAs has progressed. Toshiba Corp. has
               developed a fuel cell and actually operated its PDA, "GENIO e," with the fuel
               cell (Photo 2: Toshiba's PDA prototype). With the use of 10ml methanol fill,
               the cell powers the PDA to operate for 40 hours in a normal display mode,
               Toshiba says.

               Motorola Labs, the research arm of Motorola Inc. of the United States, has
               worked on a PDA powered by a fuel cell prototyped for a mobile terminal.
               This cell is characterized by its constituent material, alumina ceramics (Al203).
               Al203 is reported to reduce costs for material compared with silicon and
               carbon. The time of commercialization and the energy density, however, have
               not been disclosed yet.

               Besides the above-mentioned mobile devices, camcorders are expected to be
               powered by fuel cells and required to work for a longer time. Fraunhofer
               succeeded in developing a fuel cell that can be mounted on a camcorder and
               in actually operating a camcorder with the cell. A fuel cell system is mounted at the edge of
               the camcorder, which has no need to be supplied power from a currently
               used lithium-ion secondary battery or any other secondary battery. This cell is
               fueled by hydrogen gas, stored in a metallic tank containing solid metal
               hydride, measuring 3cm in diameter and 5cm in height.

               However, Fraunhofer, as a research organization, has no plans for
               commercializing the fuel cell in the future. Just in case, at a time yet to be
               determined, the institute will license its fuel cell technology to a maker for
               commercialization.