At Advent we spent years to develop the core materials & components that will revolutionalize the energy sector. We provide membranes, electrodes & MEAs to HTPEM stack manufacturers and system integrators. Our materials and processes are protected by more than 50 patents worldwide. Our MEA customers are working in portable, aviation & power generation markets.
What is an MEA?
The Membrane Electrode Assembly (MEA) is the core component of a fuel cell that helps produce the electrochemical reaction needed to separate electrons. On the anode side of the MEA, a fuel (hydrogen, reformate methanol etc.) diffuses through the membrane and is met on the cathode end by an oxidant (oxygen or air) which bonds with the fuel and receives the electrons that were separated from the fuel. Catalysts on each side enable reactions and the membrane allows protons to pass through while keeping the gases separate. In this way cell potential is maintained and current is drawn from the cell producing electricity.
A typical MEA is composed of a Polymer Electrolyte Membrane (PEM), two catalyst layers, and two Gas Diffusion Layers (GDL). A MEA with this configuration is known as a 5-Layer MEA due to its composition. An alternative version of a membrane electrode assembly is the 3-Layer MEA which is composed of a polymer electrolyte membrane with catalyst layers applied to both sides, anode and cathode. An alternative name for this type of MEA is a Catalyst Coated Membrane (CCM). Advent is currently selling 5-layer MEAs for HTPEM fuel cells.
Current MEA products
Advent’s high-temperature membrane is based on pyridine type structures incorporated around a stable polymer backbone. Advent TPS® MEAs operate at 120 °C to 200 °C and consists of TPS membrane and BASF electrode combining the mechanical strength of the membrane and the maturity of BASF technology.
Advent also fabricates a polybenzimidazole (PBI) based MEA under a license from BASF. Advent’s PBI MEA uses the same materials and assembly processes as developed by BASF for the P1100W HT-MEA and has the highest phosphoric acid content of any of the high-temperature membranes. Both materials use phosphoric acid as the electrolyte, do not need water for conductivity, and are based on polymers with excellent thermal and oxidative stability.
Production
Advent has recently expanded its production capacity in Massachusetts, USA and Patras, Greece and can provide highly competitive prices for the best MEA in the market.
Our production lines are flexible to provide MEAs at standard sizes of 45cm2, 165cm2 & 605cm2as well as customized MEAs of any size.
NEXT GEN MEA products
We are already working towards the development of our next generation MEAs which will be available in the market in 2021. They will consist of new PBI based membranes able to work at high power densities for long time (target is 12k-15k hours) while the platinum loading will be reduced drastically leading to much better price compared to the current products.