Micro Fuel Cell Developer Partners with Korean Firm

MTI MicroFuel Cells will collaborate with an unnamed Korean partner to commercialize and market Mobion’s MFC technology for mobile phones and mobile-phone accessories. MTI Micro´s previous agreement has expired, but the renewed collaboration extends until the end of 2009. This extension could be as long as six months after the first commercial product launch, should MTI Micro accelerate its timeline.

Under the terms of MTI Micro’s initial Alliance Agreement with its Korean partner, Mobion—a 100%-methanol-fuel-feed water-management technology—was chosen to power a series of prototypes to power mobile cell phones and their accessories. MTI Micro delivered two rounds of prototypes. The latest prototypes contain Mobion chips, a power module with fluid-conditioning technology that allows its fuel cell system to run in a wide environmental range, including temperatures from 0°C to 40°C at any humidity level. These capabilities are considered industry standard in consumer electronics and a requirement of many OEMs.