Casio Develops World's Smallest Fuel Cell for Laptop PCs
May 11, 2004
Casio Computer Co. has developed the world's smallest fuel cell for use in laptop personal computers, and aims to market it in 2007. The polymer electrolyte fuel cell, which is being developed for use in automobiles and home appliances, has been miniaturized to almost the same size as a conventional lithium ion battery. Its capacity is nearly four times higher than that of a conventional battery, and it can power a typical laptop computer for eight to 16 hours.
The unit features a device that extracts hydrogen from methanol and sends the hydrogen to the main fuel cell. Casio, working jointly with Akira Igarashi, an engineering professor at Kogakuin University, succeeded in making the device as small as a 500 yen coin so that the entire unit would fit in a laptop PC.
The device that extracts hydrogen reaches very high temperatures, but Casio solved this problem by wrapping it in a heatproof case, among other methods.
Fuel cells that use methanol are also under development, but they require pumps to handle liquid methanol, making the entire unit too large to be used in laptops.
Under current law, methanol is treated as a dangerous substance because it is flammable. This requires manufacturers to take excessive safety measures. Government regulators, including the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, are considering deregulation as early as 2007 so that fuel cells will come into wide use. Casio hopes to bring its fuel cell to market after that.
Source:http://neasia.nikkeibp.com/
-
Engineers build first sub-10-nm carbon nanotube transistor
Feb 01, 2012 |
4.9 / 5 (31) |
30
-
Something old, something new: Evolution and the structural divergence of duplicate genes
Jan 31, 2012 |
4.6 / 5 (7) |
1
-
The hidden nanoworld of ice crystals: Revealing the dynamic behavior of quasi-liquid layers
Jan 30, 2012 |
5 / 5 (3) |
1
-
Stock market network reveals investor clustering
Jan 27, 2012 |
3.9 / 5 (23) |
8
-
Of microchemistry and molecules: Electronic microfluidic device synthesizes biocompatible probes
Jan 26, 2012 |
5 / 5 (1) |
0
More news stories
Anonymous knocks CIA website offline (Update)
The website of the Central Intelligence Agency was inaccessible on Friday after the hacker group Anonymous claimed to have knocked it offline.
16 hours ago |
4.7 / 5 (14) |
21
New power source discovered
(PhysOrg.com) -- Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and RMIT University have made a breakthrough in energy storage and power generation.
Technology / Energy & Green Tech
Feb 10, 2012 |
4.7 / 5 (36) |
11
|
Google users warned of threat to smartphone wallets
Users of Google smartphone wallets were being warned on Friday that there is a way to crack pass codes intended to thwart thieves from going on illicit shopping sprees.
15 hours ago |
5 / 5 (3) |
0
Engineering images bring life to submerged city
(PhysOrg.com) -- Photo-realistic 3D mapping and digital reconstruction of an ancient underwater city in Greece have earned a team from the University of Sydney's Faculty of Engineering and Information Technologies ...
Feb 10, 2012 |
4.3 / 5 (3) |
5
Zuckerberg's focus drives Facebook's ascent
When Mark Zuckerberg showed up to rent Judy Fusco's Los Altos, Calif., house in the fall of 2004, soon after he'd arrived in Silicon Valley, the landlord was immediately struck by his confidence.
21 hours ago |
1 / 5 (2) |
2
Could Venus be shifting gear?
(PhysOrg.com) -- ESA’s Venus Express spacecraft has discovered that our cloud-covered neighbour spins a little slower than previously measured. Peering through the dense atmosphere in the infrared, the ...
Fool's gold may prove an unlikely alternative to overexploited catalytic materials
Catalytic materials, which lower the energy barriers for chemical reactions, are used in everything from the commercial production of chemicals to catalytic converters in car engines. However, with current catalytic materials ...
The power of estrogen -- male snakes attract other males
A new study has shown that boosting the estrogen levels of male garter snakes causes them to secrete the same pheromones that females use to attract suitors, and turned the males into just about the sexiest ...
Employers feel no love for unscrupulous practice of 'service sweethearting'
A new study led by two Florida State University marketing professors finds that some frontline service employees who are rewarded for hikes in customer loyalty and satisfaction also may engage in "service ...
Two new moons for Jupiter
Advances in technology have lead to the discovery of new planets outside of our Solar System, and now even new moons in our own backyard.
Complex wiring of the nervous system may rely on a just a handful of genes and proteins
Researchers at the Salk Institute have discovered a startling feature of early brain development that helps to explain how complex neuron wiring patterns are programmed using just a handful of critical genes. ...
