PolyFuel Inc. (Menlo Park, CA), a provider of direct-methanol fuel cell (DMFC) technology for portable devices and laptop computers, announced a new version of its hydrocarbon membrane for portable applications that is a "drop-in" replacement for fluorocarbon membranes in existing fuel cell membrane electrode assembly (MEA) manufacturing processes.
PolyFuel’s original hydrocarbon membrane, and its new hot-bondable version, have been engineered specifically for portable fuel cell applications. The hydrocarbon polymer is designed to be uniquely durable in the presence of methanol, the most commonly used fuel for portable fuel cells. Additionally, the membrane properties have been optimized for high performance and high fuel efficiency, allowing portable fuel cell manufacturers to design fuel cell systems that are smaller, lighter and less expensive – while at the same time being more robust and delivering longer runtimes – compared to systems incorporating conventional fluorocarbon materials.
PolyFuel also has developed hydrocarbon membrane chemistry for fuel cells – such as those intended for use in automobiles – that use hydrogen as a fuel, rather than methanol.
