Umicore and Anglo American have signed a research and development collaboration agreement to develop PGM-based catalysts for LOHC applications on FCEVs and other mobile applications. This catalyst technology has the potential to transform the way hydrogen can be stored and used to power FCEVs. 

The joint R&D program targets new PGM-based catalyst technologies for LOHC, that can be installed directly on FCEVs and other mobile applications. This will help to further simplify the fueling process: the LOHC containing hydrogen can be unloaded directly on the FCEV and the dehydrogenation phase will be carried out onboard the vehicle. The new catalyst technologies will allow to carry out this dehydrogenation step at lower temperatures and pressures, which is required for mobile applications, thereby providing a simpler and cheaper alternative to onboard storage of compressed hydrogen. 

Today, compressed hydrogen is used to power FCEVs. Insufficient infrastructure and refueling networks for compressed hydrogen, however, represent one of the main barriers for a more widespread use of hydrogen in the transportation industry. LOHC technologies provide an effective alternative solution by chemically bonding hydrogen to a stable organic liquid carrier, thereby eliminating the need for compression and making it safer, more practical and more cost efficient to transport hydrogen using existing conventional fuel networks.

Umicore will conduct the research with support from Anglo American’s PGM market development program and in cooperation with Professor Peter Wasserscheid at the University of Erlangen, co-founder of the company Hydrogenious LOHC Technologies, which is a portfolio company of AP Ventures.