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NTT DoCoMo is showing at this week’s Ceatec show in Japan a prototype fuel cell that it’s developing with a Japanese start-up for use as a cellphone recharger.
The polymer electrolyte fuel cell (PEFC) uses hydrogen gas as a fuel to produce electricity and is a compact 24mm square, 70mm long and weighs 45g.
The fuel cell is under development by Aquafairy, a startup spun out of Nitto Denko to work on the technology. DoCoMo recently acquired a 36.5 percent stake in the company for an undisclosed sum.
The fuel cell can deliver enough power to recharge a cellphone three times before requiring a hydrogen refill.
While it’s still some way from being a commercial product, the fuel cell is completely different to what DoCoMo showed at Ceatec 2005. A year ago the company was displaying a direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC) that was developed by Fujitsu and built into a cradle, into which a cellphone could be placed for recharging.
DMFCs are based on a different chemistry from the PEFC on show this year. They typically work by mixing methanol with air and water to produce electrical power.
For companies like DoCoMo a future goal remains a fuel cell small enough and safe enough to be built directly into a cellphone. But the technology isn’t at that stage yet so the first commercial fuel cell devices will likely be recharges that replenish the Lithium Ion battery inside of the phone but offer the advantage of being able to do so anywhere, not just within a couple of meters of a wall socket.
— Martyn Williams
05:55 PM 
Mark Hiratsuka •
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