The U.S. Department of Energy has granted Pajarito Powder, a renowned catalyst developer, two awards of $10 million each to enhance the catalyst supply chains for fuel cells and green hydrogen production. The funding will be utilized to scale up catalyst production and bring down costs.
Pajarito Powder will partner with Brookhaven National Laboratory, General Motors, and Oak Ridge National Laboratory, among others, for the fuel cell project as part of the Million Mile Fuel Cell Truck Consortium. Community partners comprise the University of New Mexico’s (UNM) Chemical and Biological Engineering department, UNM’s STEM-H Center, and the New Mexico Economic Development Department (EDD).
Company CEO, Thomas J. Stephenson emphasizes that hydrogen provides significant potential for decarbonizing transportation. Affordable catalysts can allow fuel cells to become commercially competitive for larger vehicles demanding greater energy.
The initiative will support DOE’s objective of domestic, commercial production of fuel cell catalysts and components. By scaling up the production of carbon supports and platinum alloy catalysts, costs will reduce, thus enhancing fuel cell’s commercial adoption. An improvement in fuel cell performance is also anticipated.
For green hydrogen catalysts, Pajarito Powder will collaborate with Auris Noble and Nel Hydrogen. The aim is to considerably reduce the volume of iridium required for proton exchange membrane (PEM) electrolysis. Again, Pajarito Powder will engage with UNM’s Chemical and Biological Engineering department, the STEM-H Center, and the New Mexico EDD, along with the H2NEW Consortium.
Chief operating officer, Dr. Michele Ostraat revealed that the funding marks a significant landmark for the company. Expansion plans include staffing up, adding equipment, implementing new systems, and accelerating overall growth to meet shared goals with DOE. The projects will contribute to building a green hydrogen ecosystem in New Mexico.
The engineered PEM catalysts of Pajarito Powder decrease the amount of iridium employed in green hydrogen production by 14% to 60%. Not only does it conserve this precious metal, but it also reduces the cost of green hydrogen production significantly.
A new manufacturing facility was inaugurated by Pajarito Powder in Albuquerque this year, capable of enhancing hydrogen fuel cell catalyst production by 200 times and green hydrogen catalyst production by a factor of 100.
