【Li Yuanheng Material】Catalyst localization to replace "speed up"

As a key core material, catalysts directly affect the performance of fuel cells. For a long time, mainland fuel cell catalysts have relied heavily on imports. Now, with the domestic policy tendency to build an autonomous industrial system, the application of domestic catalysts is put on the agenda.

In recent years, there have been many domestic enterprises that have poured into the catalyst track to promote the localization and replacement of products, including Nanjing Dongyan, Umicore, Hydrogen And Electric Zhongke, Zhongzi Environmental Protection, Jiping New Energy, Zhongke Kechuang, Grimme, etc. Some of them have made major breakthroughs in technology, and some have achieved new leaps in batch supply. With the continuous efforts of these enterprises, the domestic catalyst field is gradually ushering in a new situation of development.

The following is the latest situation of the 7 catalyst representative enterprises in China in terms of technical performance, product supply and market application:

One

Nanjing Dongyan

Founded in 2015, Nanjing Dongyan is a high-tech enterprise co-founded by Nanjing University, Nanjing Qilin Science and Technology Innovation Park and Jiangsu Tuspark Science and Technology Park Development Co., Ltd., engaged in the research and development, production and sales of core raw materials for fuel cells.

Nanjing Dongyan catalyst technology advantages are obvious: the nanoparticle particle size distribution is uniform; the electrochemical activity is far better than the traditional Pt/C and commercial alloy catalysts; the use of high-temperature annealing technology, the catalyst life is about 60% higher than that of commercial alloy catalysts; through the improvement of the ratio of carrier and metal, it has good hydrophilicity, which is conducive to the preparation of membrane electrodes; it also has a high power density under the condition of no humidification and low PGM load capacity, and truly achieves the goal of high activity and cost reduction.

At present, the company is located in Nanjing Tangshan 45,000 square meters hydrogen energy industrial park at the end of the year, is expected to be completed in June 2022 catalyst mass production line, the first phase of mass production scale of 500 grams - 1000 grams per day. In addition, it is actively cooperating with hydrogen energy industry chain enterprises in Guangdong and Shanghai, and is also connecting with hydrogen energy industrial parks in Wuhan and Chongqing to actively promote the construction of local hydrogen energy industry systems.

Two

Ulysso

Umicore is a global materials technology and recycling group specializing in raw materials technology, chemistry and metallurgy, with a focus on four business areas: catalysts, energy substances, performance materials and recycling. Umicore has been developing catalysts for fuel cell technology since the late 1980s, designed for use in fuel cell vehicles, PEM electrolyzers, and other fuel cell-based applications.

In recent years, Umicore has been advancing the commercial use of its fuel cell catalysts. As early as February 2019, Umicore announced that it would expand its fuel cell catalyst production capacity in South Korea to support the growth of demand from Hyundai Motor Group and other automotive customers. In May 2021, it announced a research and development cooperation agreement with Anglo American to develop a platinum group metal-based catalyst for liquid organic hydrogen carriers (LOHCs) for fuel cell electric vehicles and other mobile applications. This catalyst technology has the potential to change the way hydrogen is stored and the way fuel cell vehicles are powered.

In November, Umicore held the inauguration ceremony of the global headquarters of fuel cell and fixed source catalysts (FCS) in Suzhou, and its fuel cell catalyst business also officially landed in China.

Three

Hydrogen electricity in the family

Founded in 2018, Hydrogen Power Zhongke is a "dark horse" killed in the field of fuel cell core material catalysts, and is gradually becoming a leading domestic fuel cell catalyst enterprise with core intellectual property rights.

Hydrogen Has now built an automated production line that can mass-produce platinum carbon catalysts and platinum alloy catalysts. Among them, the platinum alloy catalyst is alloyed into the platinum carbon catalyst supported by the functionalized treatment, and the advantages are obvious, and the electrochemical activity area decays by 30,000 laps after accelerated aging<30%.

The company's products with excellent consistency has successfully passed the whole process of a number of fuel cell leading enterprises verification, the recent use of its catalyst products 80kW / 100kW / 110kW fuel cell system has passed the national mandatory inspection, supporting models have also been listed on the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology product announcement, will participate in the application demonstration of fuel cell vehicles.

Four

Self-environmental protection

Founded in 2005 and located in Chengdu High-tech Zone, Zhongzi Environmental Protection (688737) is a high-tech enterprise focusing on the research and development, production and sales of environmental protection catalysts. In the field of fuel cells, Zhongzi Environmental Protection focuses on the research and development of membrane electrodes and catalysts, and has participated in the "R&D and organization management of catalyst industrial mass production and condition verification" in the national key research and development plan "Synthesis Technology and Batch Preparation of High-performance/Anti-Poison Vehicle Fuel Cell Catalysts".

In terms of catalysts, Zhongzi Environmental Protection has developed the first generation of SEC100 platinum carbon catalysts and the second generation of SEC200 low platinum catalysts with a core-shell structure. The two generations are still in the small trial stage and have not yet been mass-produced. SME series membrane electrode products are products developed by Zhongzi Environmental Protection based on the self-developed SEC series electrocatalysts.

Zhongzi Environmental Protection was officially listed on October 22, 2021, becoming the "first stock of fuel cell catalyst". It intends to raise 1.525 billion yuan this time, of which part of the funds will be used for the research and development of key fuel cell materials.

Five

Jiping New Energy

Founded in August 2018, Jiping New Energy is committed to providing customers with one-stop solutions and services for hydrogen energy and fuel cell catalysts, and is the first enterprise in China to achieve kilogram-level mass production catalysts.

The company's catalyst automation production line has been put into production, the catalyst annual output of 2 tons, its performance compared with similar imported catalysts have been significantly improved, while the price is more than 15% lower than the imported products, truly break the international technical blockade, reduce the cost of downstream customers.

Jiping New Energy's control over the quality of catalysts has always been very strict. The data shows that the company can stably control the standard deviation of the catalyst to less than 4%, while the standard of the DOE is to control it at 7%. At present, Jiping new energy catalyst products rely on stable performance, economical prices, efficient supply, professional technical support and perfect customer service to obtain the recognition of many domestic MEA and stack companies.

In terms of application, at present, Jiping catalyst products have accumulated nearly 500 units so far, covering a variety of models, including ships, stationary power generation, electrolysis of water to hydrogen and other different application scenarios.

Six

Zhongke Kechuang

Relying on the talent team and technical advantages of the Shanghai Institute for Advanced Study of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Zhongke Kechuang is committed to the research and development, large-scale production and application of fuel cell electrocatalysts and membrane electrodes with independent intellectual property rights. Zhongke Kechuang now has two major types of fuel cell catalysts: platinum-based catalysts and platinum-nickel carbon catalysts.

At present, Zhongke Kechuang mainly promotes high-capacity Pt/C catalysts, and currently has a large-scale batch preparation technology - the original lattice pressure stress; the load is adjustable, the particle size is small and controllable, adjustable, breaking through the key technology of large-scale preparation composition and structural consistency, and has achieved large-scale preparation of kilograms.

At the same time, Zhongke Kechuang also has the following catalyst products - high-capacity Pt nanocatalysts, platinum black catalysts (pure platinum), high-capacity PtRu nanocatalysts, and ordered Pt Co alloy low-platinum catalysts.

At present, the fuel cell catalyst products sold by the company have achieved single batch kilogram preparation, and more than 300 customer groups have been established, which have been widely praised by customers. He has more than 10 invention patents with independent intellectual property rights and published 2 SCI papers.

Seven

Grimme

Grammy's main business is the recycling of waste batteries, electronic waste and other waste resources recycling high-tech products, is one of the leading enterprises in China to economize and recycle electronic waste and waste batteries. Such a company has now established a hydrogen fuel cell materials research center to develop hydrogen fuel cell catalysts for vehicles.

At present, the performance of the Pt/C catalyst developed by it is comparable to that of the same series of products of the industry's leading enterprises. At the same time, the company has carried out research on the intelligent dismantling of hydrogen fuel vehicles, stack dismantling, extraction of platinum and other precious metal technologies by international leading car companies.

Grimme has quite a "jianghu status" in the field of lithium battery materials, strong financial strength, and now it has joined the localization of hydrogen fuel cell catalysts in the breakthrough battle, and the industry believes that it is a big boost to the industrial chain.