Mattiq, Heraeus Precious Metals partner to advance green hydrogen production

Chicago–headquartered clean chemistry company Mattiq has announced a partnership with Heraeus Precious Metals to develop and commercialize advanced electrocatalyst materials for green hydrogen production.  The companies said they will engineer low-iridium catalysts to significantly reduce the amount of this rare and critical raw material for proton exchange membrane (PEM) water electrolyzer manufacturing before expanding into other electrochemical solutions. Platinum group metal iridium is indispensable for the green energy transition, as PEM water electrolysis, one of the most promising technologies for producing zero-carbon (green) hydrogen, depends on its availability. Iridium saw a spectacular price rally in 2021 after supply shortages and expectations it will be used to produce hydrogen to power a greener economy lifted its value by 160% in two months. A by-product of platinum and palladium mining, iridium is vital for many industries and can also serve as a catalyst in electrolysis to split water into oxygen and hydrogen, which is increasingly in demand as a cleaner source of power than fossil fuels. Mattiq, when it launched in 2023, was a recipient of the U.S. Department of Energy High-Performance Computing for Energy Innovation Initiative, a program designed to address products’ lifecycle energy consumption and increase the efficiency of energy conversion and storage technologies. With current iridium loading requirements, PEM electrolyzers will be limited in scale of annual deployment. Solutions are therefore needed to reduce iridium content in electrocatalysts without sacrificing performance, Mattiq said in a news release.  In their collaboration, Mattiq and Heraeus Precious Metals said they will shorten the traditional R&D-to-commercialization timeline, rapidly advancing low-iridium catalysts from prototype to industrial-scale solutions.  The companies said the combination of R&D capability and manufacturing will enable them to “radically” reduce the cycle time of new innovations while delivering better results for their customers. “By combining our core competence in electrochemical systems design with Heraeus’ world-class capabilities in material development and catalyst manufacturing, we can jointly accelerate the development of high-performance, low-iridium catalysts that can lower the cost of electrolyzer manufacturing, ensuring their role in decarbonizing heavy industry,” Mattiq CEO Jeff Erhardt said in a news release. Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Mining.com Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Mining.com