Fuel Cells Etc
PO Box 9230 , College Station, Texas, United States

Fuel Cells Etc is a fuel cell components manufacturer that specializes in high performance custom fuel cell and electrolyzer components for product manufacturers, researchers and educators around the world. We pride ourselves on industry-leading customer service and lead times. Our primary products include Membrane Electrode Assemblies (MEA), Catalyst Coated Membranes (CCM), and Gas Diffusion Electrodes (GDE) all for a wide variety of fuel cells and electrolyzers. Our MEAs and GDEs are sold internationally and are globally recognized as some of (if not the) highest performing and highest quality MEAs on the market.

History of FuelCellsEtc – Top Fuel Cell Manufacturer

FuelCellsEtc was originally part of one of the oldest and most recognized fuel cell R&D firms in the US, operating as Lynntech’s Commercial Fuel Cell Components Division. As a part of Lynntech, the division manufactured and sold MEAs commercially for more than 15 years. In August 2011, the current operating management of the division negotiated an exclusive license with Lynntech including all the technology, know-how, employees, etc. to transition the division into an independent company – FuelCellsEtc. FuelCellsEtc continues to keep up a close relationship with Lynntech.

The Difference: Customization, Quality, Customer Service

Our surveys and interactions with our customers tell us that our customers choose us equally for these three qualities: our ability to offer completely custom solutions for fuel cells and components, our dedication to quality, and our commitment to providing customer service that goes above and beyond the customer’s expectations. 

• Customization – FuelCellsEtc is unique among other competing fuel cell companies in that our products are 100% custom for our customers. Everything from the MEA size and shape to the catalyst types and loading can be completely dictated by the customer. We can even use customer supplied materials (e.g. catalyst, membrane, etc). If help is needed in choosing or modifying specifications we also offer standard configurations or advice in order to ensure that the MEAs that are purchased are the best MEAs for the customer’s application. All of this is provided with no minimum order requirements.

• Quality – Our process complies with ISO9001:2008 standards but, more importantly, our customers around the world have found our MEAs to be consistently of the highest quality in their real life applications. Some of our customers use our MEAs as their gold standard when developing or testing their own products because they know they can rely on our consistent high quality.

• Customer Service – We believe that customer service is the single most important aspect of our business. This means delivering on time, keeping our customers informed at critical stages, and going the extra mile if a customer needs products rushed.

Gas Diffusion Layers

The Gas Diffusion Layer (GDL) is a very important supporting material in a Membrane Electrode Assembly (MEA). Gas diffusion layers are a porous material composed of a dense array of carbon fibers, which also provides an electrically conductive pathway for current collection. GDL plays an important role of electronic connection between the bipolar plate with channel-land structure and the electrode. In addition, the GDL also performs the following essential functions: passage for reactant transport and heat/water removal, mechanical support to the membrane electrode assembly (MEA), and protection of the catalyst layer from corrosion or erosion caused by flows or other factors. Physical processes in GDLs, in addition to diffusive transport, include bypass flow induced by in-plane pressure difference between neighboring channels, through-plane flow induced by mass source/sink due to electrochemical reactions, heat transfer like the heat pipe effect, two-phase flow, and electron transport. 

Electrodes

These Gas Diffusion Electrodes (GDE) are suitable for use in the building and/or researching of your own fuel cell Membrane Electrode Assembly (MEA). We offer Gas Diffusion Electrodes in two standard configuration groups: High Performance and Standard Loading. High Performance Gas Diffusion Electrodes contain a higher loading of catalyst (Platinum, Platinum Ruthenium, etc.) while the Standard Loading GDEs contain a lower but still efficient and effective loading (such as 60% Platinum on Carbon).  If you do not see the Gas Diffusion Electrode that you are looking for be sure to contact our fuel cell manufacturing department here. We can provide ultra-low loadings down to 0.003 mg/cm² and up to 8 mg/cm² of any catalyst and gas diffusion layer (GDL) you may have in mind. We also can customize the size or shape of the GDE as well!