Teijin Develops Non-platinum Metal Carbon Alloy Catalyst

Teijin Limited announced today that it has developed a carbon alloy catalyst (CAC) that eliminates the use of platinum to reduce costs for mass production.

CAC is made from polyacrylonitrile (PAN) and steel via carbonization. Less expensive and more readily available than platinum, PAN enables the catalyst to be produced at reduced cost and in higher volumes.

Teijin’s CAC demonstrates excellent performance using catalytic particles miniaturized by proprietary polymer chemistry and carbonization processes. It enables fuel cells to achieve electrical generation on world-leading levels equal to those of other high-quality fuel cells using a non-platinum catalyst.

Fuel cells use clean energy to avoid the emission of greenhouse gases such as CO2, They currently are used mainly for large-scale electricity generation in factories and emergency power in office buildings, but the market is expected to expand as automotive applications come on stream.

Conventional catalysts in fuel cells contain large amounts of platinum, an expensive mineral that can be mined only in limited areas of the world. The development of less costly and more easily obtainable substitutes has been seen as a key to the expansion of fuel cell use.

Teijin has been developing and refining its CAC technologies in collaboration with the Tokyo Institute of Technology Opening a new window. The effort is part of a project targeting the development of automotive fuel cells using CAC, led by the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization Opening a new window (NEDO). Teijin will continue to advance the properties and durability of its CAC, targeting commercial use by 2025.

Source: Teijin Group