Ionautics has announced significant progress following more than five years of dedicated research into vapor-deposited porous iridium layers designed for use in electrolysis systems for the production of green hydrogen. Extended testing by Ionautics and its partners has demonstrated very strong benchmarking performance while using ultra-low amounts of iridium. The R&D effort has now advanced towards full-scale industrial production and testing.

A critical challenge for the global hydrogen industry is the limited availability of precious metals such as iridium and platinum, which are scarce and strategically important materials. Ionautics’ technology dramatically reduces the quantity of precious metals required and therefore represents a key enabling technology for the future hydrogen economy.

“The porous coatings technology developed can potentially increase performance, durability and lower the usage of rare metals for a wide range of applications where a large, exposed surface area is needed,” said Dr. Sebastian Ekeroth, Development Manager at Ionautics. “Fuel cells are a natural next step for us, and we are therefore very happy that we have received funding from the Swedish Energy Agency to develop platinum-based catalysts in cooperation with the Royal Institute of Technology and the RISE Research Institute of Sweden,” added Dr. Ekeroth.