Nanosys, Sharp to Develop Nanotechnology-Enabled Fuel Cells

Nanosys, Inc. announced it entered into a collaborative agreement with Sharp Corporation of Osaka, Japan to develop nanotechnology enabled fuel cells incorporating Nanosys' proprietary nanostructure technology. Under the terms of the agreement, Nanosys will collaborate with Sharp to utilize its nanostructure technology to help develop high performance fuel cells for use in portable consumer electronics such as laptop computers, cell phones and cameras. Financial details of the agreement were not disclosed.

“Sharp's expertise and success in the development and commercialization of portable electronics and renewable energy products makes them an excellent collaborator for Nanosys,” said Calvin Chow, Nanosys' Chief Executive Officer. “We are excited about the opportunity to apply our nanostructure technology with Sharp to address the numerous opportunities in the rapidly growing multi-billion dollar portable power market .”

“Through this agreement, we look forward to further developing our fuel cell technology for use in our portable electronic products,” said Dr. Kenji Ohta, Corporate Executive Director, Chief Research and Development Officer and Group General Manager of Corporate Research and Development Group, Sharp Corporation. “We are very pleased to be working in this field with the leading nanotechnology company.”

The tremendous growth in unit sales of portable electronic devices coupled with an increasing burden on battery life as applications become ever more complex has created a serious concern amongst device manufacturers about power requirements. The inherent higher energy density of small fuel cells in comparison to batteries has the potential to lead to both longer operational time and serve the power demands of next generation portable electronics.