A new mobile phone recharger based on fuel cell technology has been built by Taiwanese researchers. This new mobile phone recharger is said to cost very little once manufacturing partners are onboard. Handset rechargers containing the fuel cell is said to cost around USD30, while the fuel comes in small plastic blue tubes and sells for around USD 0.30 each. The fuel for the recharger is the actual innovation by the Industrial Technology Research Institute, a government funded lab in Taiwan. These plasticized solid-state hydrogen capsules can be shaped to suit the needs of different devices. Designed to react with water, it releases hydrogen to a fuel cell to produce electricity.

Usually, electricity is produced in a fuel cell when oxygen reacts with hydrogen, and it gives off water as a by-product. With the new recharger, fuel-cell, which is considered to be more environmentally friendly than traditional batteries as chemicals used are far more earth friendly. Working prototypes of the new mobile phone charger and the blue fuel tubes have already been created by ITRI. The Taiwanese research group has already started developing laptop battery chargers. However, the team said they were still unable to say when prototypes would be ready. Using one little tube of fuel will give you a two-hour charge when using the new handset recharger, which will cost you a mere USD 0.30. Toshiba too has a portable battery charger for electronic devices in the pipelines. This charger is based on a DMFC (direct methanol fuel cell).

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