my country’s platinum-to-carbon catalyst (Pt/C) domestic substitution process continues to accelerate, and fuel cells are its main demand side

Platinum carbon catalyst, referred to as Pt/C, also known as platinum carbon catalyst, refers to a carrier catalyst that loads platinum onto activated carbon. It is one of the subdivisions of precious metal catalysts. Platinum carbon catalysts appear as black powder and have the characteristics of high selectivity, high activity, long life, and good cycleability. They are widely used in gas purification, oxidation reactions, hydrogen purification, oxygen purification, etc. End application fields include electronics, medicine , automobiles, chemicals, etc.

Automobiles are currently the main application field of platinum carbon catalysts. In this field, platinum carbon catalysts are mainly used in fuel cell production scenarios. A fuel cell is an energy conversion device that converts chemical energy into electrical energy. The electrode catalyst is one of its key raw materials and mainly plays the role of decomposing hydrogen and oxygen for electrochemical reactions to generate current. Platinum carbon catalyst is one of the fuel cell electrode catalysts that has been commercialized in my country. Currently, driven by the rapid growth of domestic hydrogen fuel cell vehicle sales, the market demand for platinum carbon catalysts continues to increase.

According to the “2023-2028 Platinum Carbon (Pt/C) Catalyst Industry Market In-depth Research and Investment Prospects Forecast Analysis Report” released by the Industrial Research Center shows that according to data from the China Automobile Association, my country’s hydrogen fuel cell vehicle production and sales in 2022 will complete 3,626 and 3,367 units respectively, a year-on-year increase of 105.4% and 112.8%. In the future, as the production and sales of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles maintain rapid growth, it is expected that my country’s platinum carbon catalyst market will maintain growth at an average annual compound growth rate of more than 7% from 2023 to 2028, and the industry development prospects are promising.

The technical threshold of platinum carbon catalyst is relatively high. It is mainly produced through three major processes: precipitation conversion, chemical reduction and alternating microwave heating. The process requirements are relatively high. The chemical reduction method is currently the most commonly used platinum carbon catalyst production method. It refers to a method that uses activated carbon, distilled water, hexachloroplatinic acid solution, etc. as raw materials, and produces a platinum carbon catalyst through mixing and dissolution, ultrasonic vibration, chemical reduction treatment and other steps.

Industrial analysts personnel said that due to technical limitations, before 2018, the localization rate of my country’s platinum carbon catalyst market was It has always been at a low level. The key technologies and related intellectual property rights of global platinum carbon catalysts have always been in the hands of foreign companies such as Europe, the United States, and Japan, such as Thermo Fisher of the United States, Elements of the United States, PK Catalyst of the United States, Stanford Advanced of the United States, and Evonik of Germany. , Japan’s Tanaka Precious Metals, Britain’s Johnson Matthey, etc.

After 2018, the Northwest Nonferrous Metals Research Institute successfully overcame the problem of industrial production of platinum carbon catalysts, and the process of localization in the domestic market began. Since then, with the continuous advancement and development of technology, the activity and stability of my country’s platinum carbon catalysts have reached the international advanced level, and the localization process has continued to accelerate. Domestic platinum carbon catalyst companies mainly include Xi’an Kaili New Materials, GEM, Zhongzi Technology, Guiyan Platinum, Jiping New Energy, Zhongkeke Innovation Energy, etc.