Company Information for Acta

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AIM; ACTA

Company Statement

Acta - Technology to Make the Hydrogen World a Reality
The hydrogen revolution is set to profoundly change our lives and those of future generations. It will transform the way we use portable devices and will provide clean, efficient power long after the world’s fossil fuel supplies have been exhausted.

Acta has launched a pioneering technology that will help unlock the potential of fuel cells and the hydrogen economy. Acta has patented a unique family of platinum-free catalysts, which offer new possibilities in fuel cell design, in the supply of hydrogen gas and in the application of new fuel options.

Powering fuel cells

At Acta, we have initially applied our technology to develop catalysts for fuel cells. Our new HYPERMEC™ catalysts overcome the commercial barriers that have previously prevented the full potential of fuel cell technology from being realised, by allowing the use of a range of new fuels in fuel cells, including ethanol and ethylene glycol. HYPERMEC™ catalysts also offer potential to increase the durability and reduce the engineering cost of the fuel cell. This means fuel cell makers can now deliver what the consumer has been waiting for: an affordable, durable fuel cell which uses a practical, safe and environmentally friendly fuel.

Making hydrogen

Acta’s catalysts can also be used to reform hydrogen from a wide range of fuels at lower temperatures than have been achieved before, allowing the safe delivery of pure hydrogen to fuel cells without the problems of hydrogen storage or extremely high temperatures.

Operations and Technology

Catalysts

A catalyst is a vital component of many industrial chemical reactions. The catalyst lowers the energy barriers required to initiate a chemical reaction simply by its presence, but is not itself changed by the reaction. The catalyst does this by acting as a host to the chemical reaction, which can take place on its surface. This makes the catalyst invaluable in industrial chemical processes, where there is a need for reactions to take place on a large scale, with high efficiency and minimum energy inputs.

Catalysts for fuel cells have to date required the use of platinum and other platinum group metals (“PGMs”). Platinum is one of the world’s most expensive metals, costing around $27,000 per kg – hence the catalysts are invariably expensive and are often designed to minimize the amount of metal used rather than to optimise performance. Platinum catalysts also have technical limitations: their affinity for carbon means they are prone to being “poisoned” in the presence of carbon monoxide.

Acta’s catalysts are platinum free, being made of a blend of other transition metals, including cobalt, nickel and iron. These metals are abundant and the pricing is vastly cheaper than platinum. They are not vulnerable to carbon poisoning and the manufacturing process is robust and scaleable. This means that Acta’s catalysts offer excellent performance and can be scaled up at industrial prices.

Our Chemistry

Acta has developed a unique technology that allows it to design, develop and produce new types of electro-catalyst, which it has named HYPERMEC™ (high performance metal catalysts). The technology is based on a special polymer which is capable of organising metal atoms within a template structure. This structure is then transferred to a support material and reduced to produce the catalyst.

The unique templating polymer is used to organise very fine metal particles. This enables the very fine, stable distribution of base metals at a sub-nanometre size. The extreme dispersion and thermal stability of the catalysts provides them with extremely high catalytic properties, even at ambient room temperature.

Why small particles?

With a particle size below 1nm, our catalysts have a large surface area for their mass, making them more active and, thus, more efficient. The use of small particles means that base metal catalysts are active even at room temperature and yet the catalyst remains stable to 850°C. This enables the use of cheaper metals and less material at lower temperature and allows the use of ethanol and other previously untapped fuels.

Applications

Acta’s flexi-fuel capability means that there is a HYPERMEC™ catalyst to fit any fuel cell or fuel-type. HYPERMEC™ works well with hydrogen and with methanol, but the really exciting potential lies in the use of new fuel options:

Ethanol: Ethanol is already widely distributed in both the consumer, automotive and industrial markets. It is non-toxic and has low flammability. It is perfect for portable power solutions and can also be used for transportation applications with a reformer. Being part of the natural carbon cycle, ethanol causes no harmful environmental impact

Ethylene Glycol: Ethylene glycol, commonly used as a radiator fluid, is also widely distributed in the automotive and military supply chains. Ethylene glycol works below freezing and has a boiling point of over 180°C so does not evaporate in normal use. This makes it an ideal fuel for more demanding applications requiring a broader range of temperatures, such as military or emergency services.

Membranes and Membrane Electrode Assemblies

In addition to its groundbreaking work on catalysts, Acta has developed an innovative and very low cost method for producing new types of membrane electrode assembly (MEA), the key component at the heart of most fuel cell production.

The Membrane Electrode Assembly (MEA) is the core component of the fuel cell. The interaction between the catalyst and the membrane is key to MEA performance and cost. Huge investments have been made to develop complex membranes in order to manage down the cost of the catalyst. Furthermore the engineering of the MEA has often been driven by catalyst related issues, such as sealing the MEA under pressure and minimizing the risk of fuel cross-over. HYPERMEC™ removes many of these costs:

HYPERMEC™ catalysts work best with anionic membranes. Anionic membranes have excellent conductivity and produce water from the reaction on the fuel side, reducing water management issues
HYPERMEC™ catalysts work with a range of industrial membranes that cost less than current leading acidic membranes. Acta has already qualified a number of these as compatible with HYPERMEC™. Acta will be happy to work with new membranes in order to maximize the performance of the fuel cell

HYPERMEC™ catalysts allow for much simpler MEA structures. In fact, Acta has a patent on a simple two-ply MEA manufacturing process which we have called “Electro-Catalytic Film” (ECF). Acta is happy to manufacture samples of ECF or to license the technology to customers in order to maximize the potential of the market.

Geographical Spread

Our team is headquartered in Lavoria, near Pisa, Italy, with an applied research base in Florence. Our scientific and commercial teams work closely to ensure the optimum commercial value of our products.

Alongside a planned commercial office in the UK, we currently have development programmes with the following research universities:

University of Trieste
University of Edinburgh
University of Pisa
University of Pavia
University of Rome
CNR, Milan

Board of Directors and Key Management

Paolo Bert (aged 58)	Chief Executive Officer

Toby Woolrych (aged 39)	Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer

Robert Drummond (aged 60)	Independent Non-Executive Chairman

Geoff Bicknell (aged 63)	Independent Non-Executive Director

Paul Barritt (aged 43)	Non-Executive Director

Professor Alberto Nobolo (aged 55)	Independent Non-Executive Director

Giovanni Casoni (aged 73)	Independent Non-Executive Director

Alessandro Tampucci (aged 49)	Co inventor of Acta’s technology

Claudio Bianchini (aged 55)	Chief Technology Adviser

Company Address

Acta S.p.A. P.O. Box 143 - 56021 Cascina (Pisa) Italy
Cascina (Pisa), Agrigento, Italy 56021


Telephone:	+39 050 644281
Facsimile:	+39 050 642251
Email:	info[at]acta-nanotech.com
Website:	http://www.acta-nanotech.com

Nominated Brokers

Numis Securities

Nominated Advisors

Numis Securities

Broker/Analyst Reports

20/03/07 - Numis Securities Morning Note

Most Recent Statement

10/06/08 - AGM Statement
04/09/07 - Notice of Results
22/07/07 - Notice of EGM
18/07/07 - Trading Statement
12/07/07 - Director/PDMR Shareholding
12/07/07 - Director/PDMR Shareholding

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