This year Pajarito Powder’s Team will participate for a second time in the US Department of Energy (DOE) organized “ElectroCat Semiannual In-Person Meeting” January 13-14^th, Santa Fe, NM. The meeting will cover all aspects related to the development of electrocatalysts free of Platinum Group Metals (PGM-free) for Oxygen Reduction Reaction (ORR). Experts in the field from National Laboratories, universities and industry will share their recent results and participate in several break-out sessions on catalysts synthesis, characterization, and evaluation PGM-free materials in fuel cells. “Being a part of ElectroCat Consortium, it is a very exciting opportunity for us to learn of recent trends in the field and participate in the discussion about further improvement of PGM-free catalysts” said Dr. Alexey Serov, Chief Scientist of Pajarito Powder.

ElectroCat is an initiative to accelerate the development of catalysts made without platinum group metals (PGM-free) for use in automotive fuel cell applications. Current state-of-the-art fuel cell systems rely on platinum-based catalysts that make up nearly 50% of the total fuel cell cost. ElectroCat aims to bring together a network of enduring tools and expertise across the National Laboratory network under a streamlined, single point of contact interface that makes it easy for industry and academic partners to quickly gain access to the Consortium. The co-leads of the Consortium are Argonne National Laboratory, represented by Deborah Myers and Los Alamos National Laboratory, represented by Piotr Zelenay.

As a part of DOE’s Energy Materials Network formed under the Materials Genome Initiative, the ElectroCat network will also actively curate a database to inform PGM-free catalyst and electrode development while also protecting the intellectual property of those working with the Consortium.