Sustainable noble-metal free fuel cell catalysts for automotive heavy-duty applications

Purpose and goal

Proton exchange membrane fuel cells demand cheaper and sustainable catalysts, free of Platinum or any other noble metals, for them to be viable for greener Heavy-Duty applications. The project will combine Volvo AB’s vehicle application knowledge and Celcibus AB’s noble-metal free catalyst knowledge to research and investigate the potential of Celcibus catalyst technology in terms of activity, stability, and loss of performance against well-defined and measurable lab-scale targets relevant for automotive Heavy-Duty applications and build up generic knowledge in this area.

Expected effects and result

The obtained results, conclusions, and test methods applicable will identify the key knowledge gaps that needs to be understood and mitigated. The ambition is to address the identified gaps and challenges in a longer project which will be applied upon completion of this project. The results will be disseminated by suitable publications and public presentations. It is also expected that the parties will apply for continued external funding for future research projects to close the identified knowledge gaps, and thereby disseminate the project plan to relevant funding agencies.

Planned approach and implementation

The project consists of 4 work packages (WP). WP 1 will address the technical targets, required test protocols, test plan, and characterization methods. In WP 2 MEAs with varying catalyst loading and composition will be prepared and evaluated according to the plan of WP 1. In WP 3 an economic feasibility of noble-metal free compared to Pt-based fuel cells will be performed. In WP 4 a research development roadmap will be developed on how to mitigate the identified knowledge gaps for a viable implementation of noble-metal free fuel cells in automotive Heavy-Duty applications.