The ERC Proof of Concept LAACat (875564) led to the manufacturing scale-up of a new pure metallic aerogel with metal backbone, with excellent performance potential in electrocatalytic applications. This included the testing of a polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) with a market-relevant 30 cm2 electrode area. In addition, we produced insights into how such a technology could be positioned in today’s market, in order to ensure wide adoption beyond the ERC Proof of Concept.
Hydrogen-based fuel cells represent a relatively new market with significant upside potential. It is expected to rise to €15 billion by 2025, at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 43.8%, from €3.5 billion in 2021. The main drivers behind this market are (i) the rising government initiatives to adopt fuel cell electric vehicles, (ii) the drift towards hydrogen-powered vehicles by automotive manufacturers, (iii) better fuel efficiency and less dependency on fossil fuels, (iv) increasing focus on diminishing the carbon footprint and curb other harmful emissions. The main obstacle is expected to be the increasing demand for other electric vehicles and the difficulty of managing bulk hydrogen stations. Polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) have attracted considerable worldwide attention because of their high energy conversion efficiency and low environmental impact. Their commercialization, however, is inhibited by the high loadings of the costly Pt-based catalyst materials used at their cathodes, which is in turn related to their insufficient oxygen reduction activity and inadequate long-term stability. A promising solution that simultaneously addresses all these issues is the design of more active, bi-metallic and unsupported catalysts with extended surfaces, e.g. metal aerogels. Pt3Ni aerogels show these significant improvements in catalytic activity and device durability over the state of the art. They combine the benefits of high surface area utilization typically achieved by nanostructured materials with the enhanced durability gained via macro-scale self-assembly. Our gained knowledge about the preparation and handling as well as the excellent performance potential of Pt-Ni aerogels led us to the straightforward next steps: Upscaling the aerogel preparation and subsequently testing the material in prototype PEMFCs with a 30 cm2 electrode area with the aim to create a market-ready PEMFC using bimetallic aerogel electrocatalysts from large-scale synthesis and design an optimal route-to-market strategy that would ensure swift adoption of our technology in an industrial setting. In the course of the ERC Proof of Concept, several paths were elaborated, for licensing our Intellectual Property (IP). We will continue on this after the final testing and analysis of our material is completed to create a full and comprehensive data package. Subsequent development will include further synthesis upscale, at least by an order of magnitude, further loading reductions and techno-economic analysis based on the results generated by the LAACat ERC Proof of Concept. We estimate subsequent scale up and validation in a relevant environment to require a budget of approximately €2.3-2.5 million. We plan to raise this budget through funding or by closing co-development partnerships with industry representatives.
