Chemical engineers from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign say they've developed a working fuel cell measuring 3 millimeters across. Future versions of the tiny hydrogen-fuelled power pack could replace batteries in portable gadgets.
While batteries are used to do that today, fuel cells are able to store more energy in the same space. Even the most advanced batteries have an energy density an order of magnitude smaller than that of a hydrogen fuel tank.
This fuel cell system is designed for portable devices that move and rotate. Instead of gravity controlling the flow of water, the fuel cell uses surface tension, which is unaffected by the device moving.
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