Mar 2, 2026 – Albuquerque, NM Pajarito Powder has achieved a significant milestone in PEM electrolyzer catalyst performance, with its iridium oxide OER catalyst surpassing 1,000 amperes per gram of iridium at 1.5 V — one of the highest mass activity figures reported in the industry. The achievement places Pajarito Powder’s IrOx catalyst well ahead of competing materials and on a clear trajectory toward the U.S. Department of Energy’s 2026 performance targets. For electrolyzer developers, the milestone translates directly into reduced iridium loading requirements, lower system costs, and a stronger economic case for green hydrogen production at scale. The result reflects years of foundational work in catalyst architecture and support engineering by Pajarito Powder’s growing R&D team.

Why this matters, it helps to understand what mass activity actually measures. Inside a PEM electrolyzer, electricity is used to split water into hydrogen and oxygen — a process driven entirely by the iridium oxide catalyst at the anode. Mass activity measures how efficiently that catalyst converts electrical input into hydrogen output, expressed as the amount of current — and therefore hydrogen — generated per gram of iridium used. A catalyst with higher mass activity produces more hydrogen for the same electrical input, or equivalently, requires less electricity to produce the same amount of hydrogen. In an industry where electricity is both the primary input cost and the primary variable in the economics of green hydrogen, that efficiency gap has direct and measurable consequences for the cost of every kilogram of hydrogen produced.

For electrolyzer developers, the milestone translates directly into reduced iridium loading requirements, lower system costs, and a stronger economic case for green hydrogen production at scale. The result reflects years of foundational work in catalyst architecture and support engineering by Pajarito Powder’s growing R&D team — and underscores the company’s conviction that advances in catalyst materials, more than any other single factor, will determine when and whether green hydrogen achieves cost parity with fossil fuel-derived alternatives.