Catalysts remain a critical point in fuel cell costs. The startup Pajarito Powder, based in Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA, manufactures, among other things, a special powder with a unique surface structure. This is intended to reduce the use of the actual expensive catalyst materials so significantly that fuel cell costs could decrease by one fifth. This was explained by Christian Mohrdieck, CEO of Pajarito Powder, in an interview with H2international in the summer.
Now the company has invested in industrial production facilities to produce its carrier material "Engineered Catalyst Support" in 20-kilogram batches. Previously, they worked in 5-kilogram batches. With the installation of a new ball mill and a large furnace (see photo) at a separate location, the company can now produce several hundred kilograms per year. That doesn't sound like much, but even in a truck, there is significantly less than one hundred grams of platinum. The scale fits the production plans of vehicle manufacturers that are just starting. Behind Pajarito Powder are the Hyundai Motor Company and the Corporation, NV Bekaert SA, Ecovyst: Advanced Materials & Catalysts, LLC (a business unit of Technip Energies NV), Omphalos Venture Partners, and other private investors.
Pajarito Powder
The investment is not just about mass but also about meeting standards from the highly optimized automotive industry. "The new facilities will enable Pajarito Powder to meet the requirements of a renowned customer from the automotive sector," says Christian Mohrdieck, CEO of Pajarito Powder.
The larger batches are produced in a 2,500 square meter facility in Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA. The infrastructure is geared towards further expansions of the production facilities.
Pajarito Powder's product portfolio includes three high-performance catalyst technologies for fuel cells and electrolyzers:
- The Engineered Catalyst Supports (ECS) are at the center of the current production expansion. They form the basis for the production of fuel cell catalysts. As a foundation, ECS offer a more stable platform for the development of high-performance catalysts.
- Building on the ECS, Pajarito Powder also offers complete catalyst solutions based on platinum group metals (PGM).
- In addition to fuel cell catalysts, the company also offers catalysts for PEM and AEM electrolyzers, both for the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) and the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER).
The intellectual property used for the technologies comes from both Pajarito Powder itself and licenses from the Los Alamos National Laboratory.
