H2U’s PEM electrolyser stacks leverage readily available catalyst materials to enable cost-effective green hydrogen generation.

The development of alternative catalysts is significant as highly constrained sources of costly platinum group metal (PGM) materials, such as iridium, a mainstay electrolyser catalyst, will lead to supply chain shortages and price increases.

The catalysts used in the new electrolyser stack are optimised with H2U’s CDE originally developed by Caltech. The data-driven CDE rapid-screening process allows scientists to make, characterise, and quantify the catalytic activity of thousands of material compositions per week – faster than any other screening process available.

Customers looking to advance their green hydrogen projects will be able to view several operational, iridium-free, multi-kilowatt electrolyzer stacks at H2U’s lab facilities in Chatsworth, California.

Guests will also be able to tour H2U’s Catalyst Discovery Engine™ (CDE™) facilities to see how H2U discovers the non-iridium catalysts used in its electrolysers.

The H2U scientists then explore multiple options to get the ideal materials into the electrolyzer using their expertise in catalyst coatings, binders, and deposition methods. The materials used in the demo stack have separately been evaluated and verified through independent third-party testing.

Mark McGough, CEO of H2U Technologies, said it is an extraordinary time to research and develop solutions for real-world decarbonisation.

He said, “Our iridium-free electrolysers have the potential to revolutionise green hydrogen production.”

He believes it will cut nearly half the cost of today’s offerings by producing electrolysers with such economical and readily available materials.

Michael Lichterman, Ph.D., Principal Scientist, said this initial demonstration shows the efficacy of non-iridium catalyst materials.

He said, “By leveraging our CDE, H2U will continue to improve the efficiency and durability of its catalyst materials with each subsequent electrolyser system. Moreover, the lessons learned from this demonstration build our expertise in incorporating catalytic materials into stacks. These lessons can be applied no matter what catalyst we use.”