Several years ago, Photofabrication Engineering (PEI) began etching pure titanium to create anodes and cathodes for the domestic and international fuel cell markets. Since then, PEI has become the leading expert in titanium etching and the etching of other exotic materials for a broad variety of automotive applications, including anodes and cathodes for batteries, fuel cell plates, electrical contacts, EMI & RF shielding, optical encoders for automotive manufacturing equipment, and fuel injector components.
PEI’s unique manufacturing capabilities allow us to etch metals to multiple depths without the resist failures common to this etching process, and to etch depths of 0.050 in. (1.27 mm) from one side.
How do we do it? Our photochemical etching machines were developed specifically to meet the demanding requirements of exotic metal etching. They are 30 in. (762 mm) wide, and all of them are two- or four-chambered for high production quantities. The internal parts of these etching machines are constructed of special alloys (proprietary to PEI) so that they are unaffected by our patented copper-based etchant.
Among the etched metal parts and products PEI currently supplies to the automotive industry are the following:
- Anodes and Cathodes
- Fuel Cell Plates
- Electrical Contacts
- EMI and RF Shielding
- Optical Encoders