Cella Energy makes safe, low-cost hydrogen storage materials. Our materials use nano-structuring to safely encapsulate hydrogen at ambient temperatures and pressures. This sidesteps the requirement for an expensive hydrogen infrastructure. 

Hydrogen vehicles no longer require pressurized hydrogen tanks, the Cella hydrogen storage materials are packaged in regular shaped fuel tanks. Refueling takes placing use small pellets of beads that behave just like a liquid fuel such as gasoline or diesel, and can be pumped using similar liquid pumps. 

For military and portable power applications the hydrogen can be packaged in small cartridges or bags that can replace a battery pack or fit into the wings of an unmanned aerial vehicle UAV for example. The duration can be up to 3x lithium –ion batteries for the same weight. 

In 2007 work began at the prestigious STFC Rutherford Appleton Laboratory near Oxford, UK to develop new synthetic fuels. The team was led by Professor Stephen Bennington, who is now the Chief Scientific Officer of Cella Energy. The team used a technique called coaxial electrospinning to safely encapsulate complex hydrides using nanostructuring techniques. The result was a fuel with more energy than gasoline or lithium-ion batteries that could be handled quite safely in the open air and pumped like a fluid. This meant we could meet the most important DoE criteria. 

In 2010 Cella Energy was formed as a spin-out company from the STFC Rutherford Appleton Laboratory with the exclusive rights to the IP. Initial funding has been provided by Thomas Swan & Co. Ltd, a UK chemical company established in 1926. Thomas Swan have extensive experience of how to scale chemical production rapidly and cost effectively. They also have one of the largest nanotube manufacturing facilities in Europe. 

In September 2011 Space Florida lead a further investment round. Cella now has laboratories at both the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory near Oxford, UK and at the NASA Kennedy Space Centre KSC in Florida. Over 30 years of the Space Shuttle program, KSC has become one of the largest users of hydrogen worldwide.

As well as working with NASA, the large auto-makers and automotive tier 1′s, Cella is also working on innovative solutions to provide longer-lasting batteries for laptops and for the military, radiation shielding for space travel, and bulk hydrogen storage to lower emissions from aircraft and to provide alternatives to transporting energy from off-shore wind farms. 

Cella has won a string of awards including the prestigious Shell Springboard Award and the Energy Storage Challenge sponsored by ONR the Office Naval Research (US Navy).