Pajarito Powder will exhibit for the second year in a row at the upcoming ARPA-E Summit, March 13th-15th, in Washington, D.C.

“As an ARPA-E contract awardee, our work on alkaline Anion-Exchange Membrane (AEM) catalysts contributes to new and exciting hydrogen production systems that support American competitiveness in renewable energy technologies,” said Dr. Barr Zulevi, Pajarito Powder CTO and President. “The ARPA-E Summit provides us with a forum to showcase our work with partners Proton Onsite, EWII Fuel Cells, LLC, Northeastern University, and the University of New Mexico,” he added.

Pajarito Powder will exhibit at booth #337 (subject to revision).

The ARPA-E contract led by Pajarito Powder, LLC is focused on developing a reversible hydrogen electrode that would enable cost-effective hydrogen production and reversible fuel cells. Both electrolyzers and fuel cells generally operate in acidic conditions that rely on expensive precious metal catalysts to avoid corrosion. Running the electrochemical cell in alkaline conditions reduces the requirements for the oxygen electrode, but effective and inexpensive electrocatalysts for the hydrogen electrode still need to be developed. This project aims to develop a bi-functional (i.e. two way) low-cost catalyst that runs in alkaline conditions capable of oxidizing or reducing hydrogen depending on whether power is needed immediately, or needs to be stored. By integrating the electrolyzer and fuel cell into one system, the overall cost could be drastically reduced, which would open an entire suite of new applications including grid load-leveling and long-term energy storage applications. The system will be compatible with intermittent energy sources because it can operate at lower temperatures than competing technologies, thus allowing startup times on the order of seconds.

For more information about Pajarito Powder, the ARPA-E Contract, our partners or our products, please contact Webb Johnson, Senior Director of Business Development.