n the future market for fuel cells, FuMA-Tech has secured a position as a supplier of innovative fumion polymers and fumapem membranes as central components of a membrane electrode assembly which is at the heart of a fuel cell.
Thus FuMA-Tech is a direct supplier of components to the fuel cell market which has developed from the original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) from the car industry, from stationary energy production as well as portable electricity supply.
FuMA-Tech is in a unique selling position in that it is able to supply both perfluorinated and fluorine-free hydrocarbon type membranes. For this purpose, FuMA-Tech uses hydrocarbon polymers based on sulfonated polysulfones and sulfonated polyketones, a process that has been patented for some time now. In many applications, these products are not only more economical but also more effective than conventional perfluorinated membranes.
FuMA-Tech has secured a strategic position as a component supplier. The production of fuel cell modules can basically be ruled out. Thus FuMA-Tech never competes with potential customers and orignial equipment manufacturers (OEM) from automobile applications nor with manufacturers of fuel cell systems.
In the first place, the well-established manufacturers of membrane electrode assemblies are being addressed as a potential circle of clients. It is emerging however that because of the complex manufacturing processes resulting from miniaturisation, the manufacturers of portable fuel cells also have an increasing need for uncoated membranes and polymers compared to the conventional use of membrane electrode units. In addition to this, it is becoming apparent in mobile applications that car manufacturers will produce fuel cell modules themselves. In order to lower the costs as required, the number of individual components in the module will be reduced while current developments are testing integrated components with better functionality. As a result, there will be an increase in demand for uncoated membranes on the long term and thus an additional market can be expected for fumion polymers and fumapem membranes in automobile applications.