E-TEK News

E-TEK Merger with PEMEAS: More Good News for Fuel Cell Customers

E-TEK's recently completed merger with PEMEAS, the industry leader in high-temperature membrane electrode assemblies, is a major win for our customers. The merger of these two strongly complementary companies gives our customers access to a wider range of cutting-edge proprietary components that will help them create competitive fuel cell products for existing and emerging fuel cell applications.

The merger creates a vertically integrated company with core competency in the development and production of catalysts, membranes, gas-diffusion layers, gas-diffusion electrodes, and membrane electrode assemblies. The new organization's operations will be in E-TEK's facilities in Somerset, NJ, and PEMEAS headquarters in Frankfurt, Germany.

More, Not Less
The merger will result in an expanded product line, as well as a sustained supply of the products that have earned E-TEK the loyalty of our customers. E-TEK will continue to develop and sell state-of-the-art catalysts, next-generation GDLs and GDEs, and low-temperature MEAs for applications such as direct methanol fuel cells (DMFC). E-TEK has doubled its production space in Somerset to accommodate the growth of the business with the merger. We plan to expand our MEA manufacturing capacity and, if needed, our coatings operations.

PEMEAS: Hi Temp MEAs for CO Immunity, Cogen
PEMEAS is the only commercial supplier of high-temperature MEAs for PEM fuel cells. Operating at 150ºC to 180ºC, these MEAs are virtually immune to poisoning by carbon monoxide (CO) created during fuel reforming. Whereas a CO concentration of 15-20 ppm will poison a conventional fuel cell, the PEMEAS high temperature MEA can operate problem-free at 50,000 ppm of CO. This avoids the need for costly and complex CO scrubbing features and simplifies operations and maintenance on fuel cell systems.

Moreover, the PEMEAS high-temp MEA offers another significant advantage: it generates high-quality heat for cogeneration in residential and small commercial applications. A combined electricity and heat capability bumps natural gas fuel efficiency from 20-40% up to 60-80% from a single appliance. Developers including Plug Power and Ultracell have engineered stationary and portable systems using the PEMEAS high temperature MEA. And, we must also note that this high-temperature MEA is powered by specially developed E-TEK gas diffusion electrodes.

E-TEK: Catalysts and MEAs for DMFC
The push for refillable power units for cell phones, PDAs and computers is driving demand for small fuel cells that can be recharged via a cartridge of liquid methanol. E-TEK offers the leading catalyst for methanol oxidation and has a new MEA for methanol operation. With E-TEK components, DMFC powered appliances may be leading the next electronic revolution.

On their own, E-TEK and PEMEAS each had a lot to offer the fuel cell industry. Together, we offer our customers exponentially more—now and into the future