China’s platinum-based hydrogen fuel cell catalyst market development status and analysis of key companies in 2023

Platinum-based hydrogen fuel cell catalyst is a type of fuel cell catalyst and one of the core materials of the membrane electrode of the hydrogen fuel cell stack. The catalysts located at the anode and cathode promote the hydrogen oxidation reaction and oxygen reduction reaction respectively, thereby generating electricity. Currently, China is highly dependent on imports of hydrogen fuel cell catalysts, and the level of localization is relatively low. Common fuel cell catalysts are mainly divided into platinum-based hydrogen fuel cell catalysts, low-platinum catalysts and non-platinum catalysts. Currently, platinum-based hydrogen fuel cell catalysts have the highest level of industrialization and are the most widely commercialized hydrogen fuel cell catalysts.

The “2023-2028 China Platinum-Based Hydrogen Fuel Cell Catalyst Industry Market In-depth Research and Development Prospects Forecast Report compiled and released by the Industrial Research Center ” shows that in recent years, with the growth of demand in the global fuel vehicle industry, it is expected that the industrialization process of the global and Chinese fuel vehicle industries will accelerate in the next few years, and the demand for fuel cells will also grow. Hydrogen fuel cells can be divided into proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFC), alkaline fuel cells (AFC), direct methanol fuel cells (DMFC), phosphoric acid fuel cells (PAFC), molten carbonate fuel cells (MCFC) and solid oxidation fuel cells. Chemical fuel cells (SOFC), among which proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFC) and phosphoric acid fuel cells (PAFC) mainly use platinum-based catalysts, alkaline fuel cells (AFC), molten carbonate fuel cells (MCFC) and solid oxide fuel cells Fuel cells (SOFC) can use non-platinum catalysts. Proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) has the characteristics of low-temperature operation, fast start-up, and high energy density. It is the mainstream trend in the development of fuel cell technology. It is currently the largest type of fuel cell shipped in the world, driving the demand for platinum-based catalysts. increase.
                                                                   
As one of the core materials of hydrogen fuel cell stack membrane electrodes, platinum-based catalysts account for a high proportion of the stack cost. At the same time, the catalyst cost also accounts for a further increase in the stack cost due to the scale effect of fuel cell production. The cost of platinum-based catalysts is high, on the one hand due to the high price of its raw material platinum, and on the other hand because domestic fuel cell catalysts currently mainly rely on imports. The platinum-based catalyst industry has high entry barriers. On the one hand, it has high technical barriers and the scarcity of key raw materials, platinum. The high technical barriers make it highly demanding for R&D teams and requires high R&D costs. At the same time, the relevant intellectual property rights are mainly occupied by a few foreign companies. In hand; the global reserves of platinum, the key raw material, are approximately 14,000 tons, and China’s reliance on foreign countries for platinum metal is as high as 90%.

Currently, the world’s major platinum-based catalyst companies are Cataler Corporation of Japan, Tanaka Precious Metals of Japan, JM (Johnson Matthey) of the United Kingdom, Umicore of Belgium, etc. Among them, Tanaka Precious Metals has developed fuel cell catalysts since 1985 and expanded its production capacity in 2018. There are only a small number of domestic fuel cell catalyst companies, and there is a gap compared with leading overseas companies in terms of platinum loading and mass specific activity.