Smoltek Nanotech Holding AB (publ) announced that its subsidiary Smoltek Hydrogen as well as Heraeus Precious Metals are accelerating their strategic partnership to create a next generation, ultra-low iridium Porous Transport Electrodes – PTEs for Proton Exchange Membrane – PEM water electrolysis. A significant milestone in the partnership is expected to be the launch this autumn of a rigorous long-term durability test of 3,000 hours.
The testing campaign will focus on the long-term operational stability of the proprietary nanostructured iridium catalyst layer from Smoltek, a critical step towards the commercialization and large-scale industrialization of cost-effective green hydrogen production.
The collaboration combines the innovative nanotechnology of Smoltek with the world-leading know-how of Heraeus Precious Metals when it comes to precious metal electrocatalysts as well as materials characterization.
According to the Head of R&D at Smoltek Hydrogen, Fabian Wenger, “Our nanostructured layer offers a unique capability to maximize charge and mass transport properties within a thickness of just a few microns. By optimizing this specific catalyst architecture, we can simultaneously maintain high electrolyzer efficiency while successfully reducing the amount of iridium needed to below 0.1 mg/cm² loading.”
Testing and validation are the crux of the process of moving this breakthrough from lab to industrial application. Heraeus Precious Metals will take the lead in the next stage of testing, drawing on its extensive resources to assess the performance of the catalyst under realistic operating circumstances.
As per the Head of Innovation in the Hydrogen Systems Division at Heraeus Precious Metals, Christian Gebauer, “We are looking forward to commencing this extensive testing campaign and to providing the critical material analysis required to validate this technology. With our capabilities we will continue to support all steps towards an industrialization of these highly promising ultra-low iridium Porous Transport Electrodes with our comprehensive analytical and testing capabilities.”
This joint effort addresses directly one of the main bottlenecks when it comes to scaling PEM electrolysis, which is the high price of iridium. Smoltek Hydrogen and Heraeus Precious Metals are leading the way to the sustainable growth of the global green hydrogen infrastructure with a significant reduction in the necessary loading, without compromising robustness and reliability.