# Fuel Cell Scrap - Platinum



## fp1erle0n1 (May 2, 2013)

Hi all,
I am an eginner that works for a fuel cell company. 
A fuel cell stack is a device composed by multiple cells. 
Each cell has a Membrane Electrode Assembly (also known as MEA) that contains platinum as major catalyst. 
At the end of the life of a stack the MEAs are taken apart and I would like to scrap them. 
What will be left will be a sort of plastic membrane with the catalyst that is carbon based. 
The platinum is in the form of incredibly small particles of the dimension o nanometers. They are dispersed into the carbon structure. 
I know the platinum loading and the active area of the membrane so I can estimate the ammount of platinum per membrane quite easily. 
Right now the fuel cell company I work for is not refining them. From what I understood they just put them to the garbage more or less or they give it to some scrap-yard that probably doesn't know the value of it. 
So then I decided to take 4 samples of it and I sent it to a refinery I have been working with since a long time. 
They confirmed the ammount of platinum I was expecting (around 0.2grams/membrane) and they told me that for future orders the chemical process would cost a fee of 150$ and a yield of 86% of spot price. I was not that happy about those possible returns. I was considering orders of around 50-100membranes that would equate to 10-20grams of pure platinum. I was essentially thinking to work as a middle man for the company buying directly from them the membranes to be refined. 
Anybody here could be interested and might have returns that are more competitive than the one I described?
Please let me know. 
Filippo


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## lazersteve (May 3, 2013)

I've never worked with the MEA's, but it sounds like an interesting project.

PM me with your contact information so we can discuss.

Steve


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## skippy (May 3, 2013)

How much does each membrane weigh?


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## goldsilverpro (May 3, 2013)

From a refiner's viewpoint, the fees seem extremely fair to me - almost too fair. I am assuming the refiner gets it all and doesn't steal off the top. This stuff is going to take a lot of work.


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## fp1erle0n1 (May 3, 2013)

For LazerSteve: I'll send you a PM as soon as possible with my contacts so we can talk about the details
For GoldSilverPro: is good to know that my refinery is treating me well. It is one of the best I could possibly find for gold and silver scraping. Never had a problem. But I still wanted to ask around if a better result could be obtained. 

The weight of 1 membrane is probably around 20 grams. Not more. Maybe less. 

Filippo


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