The company has already started supplying sample products to automakers and consumer electronics manufacturers, aiming for commercialization in 2006.

DMFCs, which generate electricity through a chemical reaction between oxygen and liquid methanol, are being developed by many electronics makers as possible replacement for lithium-ion batteries used in portable equipment such as notebook computers.

A major focus of the development is how to reduce "methanol crossover," a flow of methanol from a fuel cell's anode side to the cathode side through the electrolyte. The crossover lowers the cell's power generation efficiency.

Tokuyama said that the crossover through its hydrocarbon-based membrane is a tenth of the level for a typical fluorine-based one and that the price of the hydrocarbon type is a fifth to tenth of the price of the fluorine-type.