Micro fuel cells: Powering true mobility

In an interview with ECN Asia, Peng Lim, president and CEO, Mechanical Technology Inc., discusses MTI Micro’s micro fuel cell technology and its key advantages over the current battery chemistries. Excerpts:



What are the advantages of micro fuel cells on current battery technologies?

The advantages are numerous. First, fuel cells have more energy density than Li-ion. This translates to longer run-time for today’s commonly used handheld electronic devices – a feature that consumers desire. This also enables OEMs to integrate more functionality into their products to remain competitive. The second is the promise of true mobility. With the simple refill of a fuel cell, a consumer would not need to tether themselves to a wall outlet, or carry multiple bulky chargers. Micro fuel cell technology is also considered a green technology. Refillable fuel cells do not need to be discarded after their use. Currently, batteries need to be disposed of at the end of their life cycle, and some rechargeable battery technologies such as NiCd are toxic to the environment. The plausible efficiency and lifecycle gains that current battery technologies are capable of are minimal at best.



In contrast, fuel cell technology remains at the beginning of its development curve. There is more room for the fuel cell industry to improve efficiency, energy density, size, and manufacturability. Lastly, safety remains a concern with certain battery chemistries. Today’s batteries have evolved to a point where they are reaching a peak, in terms of both energy density and miniaturization. Battery related hazards are well documented, and pushing these battery technologies past their limits can have serious repercussions.

Please discuss the Mobion technology and its latest developments.

Mobion technology is based on MTI Micro’s ongoing R&D efforts, which is contained in more than 92 patents either granted or in application, and encompasses a number of truly breakthrough discoveries, which we believe will lead to reliability, manufacturability and affordability in our 100 percent methanol feed, passive, direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC) technology designs for portable electronic devices.



We recently introduced the Mobion chip platform, which comprises the heart of the micro fuel cell. It incorporates an injection molded, modular design that can be used in orientation independent systems. The design reduces part count to achieve one piece measuring 9cm³ in size, which is not only small enough for the consumer market, but will allow for easy and low-cost manufacturing. We are on a commercialization timeline to bring a micro fuel cell to the consumer market next year. In preparing Mobion for this commercialization date, we have improved functionality in the design, and have also incorporated a power module with fluid conditioning. This allows the system to run in varied environments. This capability is an industry standard and a requirement on behalf of many OEMs in order to integrate a micro fuel cell into a consumer product. MTI Micro’s Mobion chip has demonstrated power of over 50mW/cm² while producing 1.4Wh/cm³ of energy from methanol as fuel. We strongly believe that the platform provides us with an edge over competing technologies with respect to power and manufacturability, and that it will ultimately enable portable devices to be powered longer than Li-ion batteries and providing the truly mobile and continuous usage experience that micro fuel cell technology promises for consumers.



What are the biggest design challenges that the company faced last year?

The biggest design challenges include power density, size, and manufacturing costs for the Mobion platform. However, we have addressed these concerns with the development of the Mobion chip, which significantly reduces manufacturing costs while increasing performance and enabling further system miniaturization.



How does your collaboration with Samsung benefit your micro fuel cell development?

In May of 2006, MTI Micro entered into a relationship with Samsung Electronics. Samsung chose Mobion technology to power a series of prototypes that MTI Micro designed for mobile phones and accessories. MTI Micro announced its continued collaboration with Samsung in October 2007. In our work under this non-exclusive agreement, MTI Micro continues to refine the Mobion baseline product design for mobile phone applications. This significant alliance adds to our confidence in MTI Micro’s momentum and capabilities in bringing Mobion solutions to high-revenue potential segments within the worldwide portable electronic device market.



Apart from the mobile phone segment, which do you expect will be some of the early adopters of micro fuel cells?

Portable and handheld consumer electronics are generally applicable for Mobion technology. We feel that digital cameras represent a large opportunity for micro fuel cells as well as mobile phones, MP3 players, PDAs and portable video game players.