Power Up! ICAP Ocean Tomo Announces an Efficient, Cost-Effective Fuel Cell Manufacturing Process, Developed by Yongjian Zheng

CHICAGO, March 8, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- ICAP Ocean Tomo announces the auction of a patent portfolio disclosing an efficient, cost-effective fuel cell manufacturing process developed by inventor Yongjian Zheng. The patent portfolio will be available at the upcoming ICAP Ocean Tomo Spring 2011 Live IP Auction March 31st in New York.

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Key Characteristics & Benefits

The patent discloses the following:  

• The design and manufacturing process of fuel cells, more particularly the manufacture of a proton exchange membrane (including direct methanol) and solid oxide fuel cells.
• A basic feature of this invention is a group of fuel cells, with back-to-back monolithic structure and design. The terms "monolithic" and "monolithic fuel cell" refer to a fuel cell having the form of a monolithic block, that is, a structure in which the various layers have substantially similar material composition.
• This invention covers low-temperature monolithic fuel cells comprising a porous conducive polymer, particularly monolithic proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFC) and monolithic direct methanol fuel cells (DMFC).
• Advantages of a monolithic fuel cell made from conductive polymer include:
  1. Ease of use;
  2. Low-cost fabrication; minimized use of noble metals and other expensive materials;
  3. Ease of adhesion and bonding of layers;
  4. Absence of leakage problems due to the monolithic block of material;
  5. Allowance of rapid prototyping when forming the structure
• Additionally, a conductive polymer used as a base monolithic material is relatively inexpensive and can be easily processed to form different functional layers.
• With the groundbreaking achievements of Nobel Prize winners Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov regarding the two-dimensional graphite material "grapheme," fabrication of monolithic fuel cells is even more feasible.
• With popular demand for portable electronics and other power operated devices, the ability to carry along portable sources of energy has become critical.

Market Potential

The patent will be of interest to entities involved in the fuel cell, manufacturing and technology industries.

• According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration projections, total world consumption of marketed energy is estimated to increase by 49 percent from 2007 to 2035.(1)

To learn more about the assets available for sale in this portfolio:

Contact Dean Becker of ICAP Ocean Tomo at [email protected]

About ICAP Ocean Tomo LLC

ICAP Ocean Tomo is the intellectual property brokerage division of ICAP and the world's premier patent auction firm.

About ICAP

ICAP is the world's premier interdealer broker and provider of post trade services. The Group matches buyers and sellers in the wholesale markets in interest rates, credit, commodities, foreign exchange, emerging markets, equities and equity derivatives through voice and electronic networks. ICAP plc was added to the FTSE 100 Index on 30 June 2006. For more information go to www.icap.com.

(1) http://www.eia.doe.gov/oiaf/ieo/world.html

SOURCE ICAP Ocean Tomo