Sanyo Electric Co. Ltd. (Japan), a leader in rechargeable batteries, and IBM Japan will collaborate to develop a micro direct-methanol fuel cell (DMFC) system for IBM's ThinkPad notebooks. The collaboration will continue after IBM's PC business is transferred to China's Lenovo Group Ltd. in the second quarter.
Sanyo and IBM said they will introduce the power system as early as 2007, when the two companies expect that regulations and rules will have been amended so that use of DMFCs becomes easy. For example, rules would be needed to take methanol on board aircraft.
The prototype is a bulky docking bay weighing 2.2 kg that includes a fuel cell and a built-in lithium-ion battery. The docking system measures 270 mm x 282 mm x 16 to 54 mm. The fuel cell cartridge contains 130 cc of pure methanol, providing a 12 W output, or up to 72 W with the built-in battery. The dc output voltage is 16 V. One cartridge provides about eight hours of power.
