Moducell Fosters Miniature Electronics
by May 24, 2004 12:00 am 111 views
Ron Foster’s company, Moducell Inc. is working on the development of a miniature fuel cell that runs on methanol. Methanol, he said, packs more punch per liter or gram – volume or weight – than any other liquid fuel.
Foster, a research professor and director of the University of Arkansas Graduate School’s Innovation Incubator, said the target market for his direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC), is miniaturized power for cellular phones, personal data assistants and other micro electronics.
The DMFC’s only byproducts are carbon dioxide in amounts similar to person’s exhaled breath or water vapor.
Foster, who has a semi-conductor background, holds a patent for the intellectual property of the specific package design to make the miniature fuel cell possible. He has a patent pending to make fuel cells an integrated circuit with an included power source.
Moducell is a client company of Genesis Technology Incubator in Fayetteville and has received one $100,000 Small Business Innovation Research grant from the National Science Foundation. Foster and CEO Bill Dopman, await word on another grant and they will be eligible to apply for a Phase II SBIR grant in July.
The company also employs two part-time workers.
Foster said the technology could provide three to 10 times the length of service as a lithium ion battery and that it would provide great environmental benefits, since many batteries contain harmful chemicals such as nickel cadmium.
A DMFC will be disposable, much like a toner cartridge for a printer, Foster said. He envisions a time when a DMFC will cost from $1 to $2 at a convenience store and that the unit will last the average cell phone user 1 to 2 weeks. The smallest is about the same volume as an AA battery, he said.
Methanol is flammable, he said, but his process is to dilute it by 50 percent with water. That would make his DMFCs about as flammable as a martini, he said.
Foster said Moducell is about 18 months from having a working prototype to start showing cell phone companies.