October 2004

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Japan’s Materials and Energy Research Institute Tokyo, Ltd (MERIT) has developed what is claimed to be one of the world’s smallest fuel cells for notebook computers, according to an early-September report in The Nihon Keizai Shimbun. The new device measures 3 x 5 x 0.1 cm, and weighs 5 grams. It can operate twice as long as lithium-ion batteries of comparable storage capacity at room temperature and produces four times as much power per unit area as methanol fuel cells. Fifty cells are combined to produce 25 watts required for a notebook computer. The device uses sodium borohydride as fuel, and it does not require platinum as catalyst for its electrodes, the report quoted MERIT president Seijirau Suda, an internationally known hydride expert (H&FCL Nov. 03), as saying.