May 2--A Tustin nanotechnology startup with a Riverside operation has landed a deal its executives hope will propel the firm to exponential growth.

"This is the breakthrough we've been looking for," said Stephen Godwin, a senior advisor for Pacific Fuel Cell Corp.

The company operates a laboratory at the University Research Park in Riverside. Pacific Fuel Cell trades as PFCE on the Nasdaq exchange. Pacific Fuel Cell is developing carbon nanotube-based micro fuel cells for use in laptop computers, hand-held computers and cell phones that enable the devices to operate for longer periods of time. UC Riverside has functioned as a nonprofit research facility with Pacific Fuel Cell in creating the intellectual property.

The company announced April 25 it had acquired rights to a new carbon nanotube membrane electrode assembly for hydrogen and methanol fuel cells. The new technology uses 75 percent less platinum while exceeding the performance of the membrane electrode assembly, a release said. Platinum, an expensive metal used in jewelry, is also used in the fuel cells as a catalyst for creating energy.

The company plans to create prototypes for demonstration to potential customers later this year. Researchers will pursue additional development at the Riverside laboratory.

Inventors are Yushan Yan, Wenzhen Li, Xin Wang, Zhongwei Chen, Mahesh Waje, William Goddard and Weiqiao Deng. Godwin declined to identify the party from whom Pacific Fuel Cell acquired the intellectual property rights.

"Pacific Fuel Cell is planning to make this prototype available to selected commercial organizations for testing and potential joint ventures," President George Suzuki said in the release.

Godwin declined to reveal the identities of organizations that will receive demonstrations. He hopes Pacific Fuel pursues joint ventures rather than licensing deals because joint ventures permit more control over technology development and greater profit, he said.

The company is gradually moving employees from Tustin to join Riverside laboratory researchers. Pacific Fuel Cell will gradually "ramp up" its employee base, said Chairman Ken Inouye. He was uncertain how many new scientists and other workers the company will hire. "It will definitely be more than a few," he said.

Pacific Fuel filed a provisional patent on the technology March 15. The provisional document protects intellectual property pending a full patent. The company will file a full patent around the end of May or first of June.

Full patent applications cost $15,000 to $50,000 depending on the law firm handling the process and the complexity of the intellectual property, Godwin said. Pacific Fuel has registered two other intellectual properties and owns others, he said.

Energy in fuel cells is created through a chemical reaction combining hydrogen or methanol with oxygen, creating water as a byproduct.

Platinum serves as a catalyst by pushing hydrogen protons and oxygen together to create water. Electrons separated in the process travel through wires as energy, creating electricity.

Pacific Fuel recently purchased a plasma chemical vapor deposition machine that makes sophisticated nanotubes and will help eliminate the use of costly platinum entirely in the fuel cells.

The equipment, which costs $250,000, is one of only about a dozen in the world. The devices can be used to make diamonds, Godwin said.

Pacific Fuel originally set out to create more efficient fuel cells for automobiles. But the market proved too competitive and commercialization too lengthy, Godwin said. The company shifted focus to mobile computers and cell phones in 2003.

Pacific Fuel's plans include developing fuel cells for small stationary and mobile power generators.

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