The market demand for PEM water electrolysis iridium-based catalysts is vast, and low iridium loading is one of its main development directions.

PEM water electrolysis iridium-based catalyst is a highly efficient oxygen evolution anode catalyst composed of iridium and other metals. As a new type of catalyst, iridium-based catalysts have broad application prospects in the fields of organic synthesis, medicine, materials science, environmental protection, PEM electrolysis and hydrogen production. The PEM water electrolysis anode has the characteristics of an acidic environment and high potential, and has strict requirements on catalysts. As one of the few anode catalysts that can work stably, iridium-based catalysts have become increasingly popular in recent years with the development of the PEM electrolysis hydrogen production industry. Market attention continues to increase.

Due to technical limitations, my country’s PEM water electrolysis catalyst market has long relied on imports. The main suppliers are Heraeus, Johnson Matthey, BASF and other companies. Only a few domestic companies and units have achieved mass production, such as PetroChina. Petrochemical Institute, Hefei Momentum Conservation and other enterprises.

Hefei Momentum Conservation has the most complete range of iridium-based catalyst products for PEM water electrolysis in China, including high iridium catalysts, porous iridium oxide catalysts, low iridium supported catalysts, new spherical iridium structure catalysts, iridium black catalysts, composite iridium catalysts, etc. In June 2023, Hefei Momentum Conservation successfully completed the first round of seed round financing, led by Hefei Seed Fund and Hefei Beicheng Angel Fund. The funds will be mainly used for the research and development of the company’s PEM water electrolysis iridium-based catalysts, membrane electrodes and other products. Large-scale mass production.

Proton exchange membrane (PEM) electrolysis for hydrogen production is currently one of the main technical routes for hydrogen production through water electrolysis. Under the strategic background of carbon neutrality and carbon peaking, the commercialization process of PEM electrolysis for hydrogen production will be accelerated. According to the “2023-2028 PEM water electrolysis iridium-based catalyst industry market in-depth research and investment prospect forecast analysis report released by the Industrial Research Center 》 shows that compared with alkaline electrolyzers, PEM electrolyzers have the advantages of high hydrogen production efficiency, small size, and quick start and stop, but their costs are higher. Reducing costs and increasing efficiency of PEM electrolyzers is one of the key factors in realizing the industrialization of PEM electrolytic hydrogen production. Catalysts are the core direction of cost reduction for PEM electrolyzers. The cost reduction space is about 40%, and the core cost reduction of catalysts is to reduce the amount of iridium. From this point of view, in the context of cost reduction and efficiency improvement, low loading will become one of the future development directions of iridium-based catalysts for PEM water electrolysis.

In the PEM electrolyzer, iridium is used as an anode catalyst, and part of the anode catalyst will be lost through water circulation. Therefore, the PEM water electrolysis iridium-based catalyst requires a certain loading capacity to ensure its service life. However, the current global iridium reserves are limited, at about 100,000 tons, which is difficult to meet the long-term development needs of PEM electrolysis water technology in green hydrogen production. Therefore, it is crucial to develop an efficient and stable low-loading iridium-based catalyst.

Industry analysts said that under the guidance of policies, the development of the hydrogen energy industry has accelerated, and the commercialization of PEM electrolysis hydrogen production has accelerated. The market demand for aqueous iridium-based catalysts will be released accordingly. Due to the limited resources of precious metal iridium, in the context of cost reduction and efficiency improvement of PEM electrolyzers, low loading, high efficiency and stability will become the main development direction of the iridium-based catalyst market for PEM water electrolysis in the future.