The development of proton exchange membrane and direct methanol fuel cell stacks is now well advanced for many applications. However, the significant performance advantages that these have over the battery for small to moderate scale applications will not be realised until a credible fuel source has been developed. The deficiencies of the PEMFC and DMFC can be eliminated by cation or anion-conducting membranes incorporated into a direct sodium borohydride fuel cell (DSBFC). The characterisation of membranes for the DSBFC is discussed. Novel membranes have been prepared which have resistance of an equal magnitude to the commercially available Nafion((R)) membrane. Crown Copyright 0 2005 Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.