Publication date: 15th December 2025
The transition toward sustainable energy systems is driving rapid scale-up of water electrolysis and related electrochemical technologies. Today, these systems rely heavily on platinum group metals (PGMs), particularly Ir and Pt, which are classified as Critical Raw Materials (CRMs) due to limited global supply, high cost, and geopolitical vulnerability. Reducing PGM consumption without compromising performance is therefore essential for the long-term commercial viability of green hydrogen production and other electrochemical processes.
Spatial Atomic Layer Deposition (S-ALD) has emerged as a manufacturing approach to address this challenge. S-ALD enables the precise deposition of ultrathin, conformal films (such as IrO₂ and Pt) on high-surface-area electrode architectures. By maximizing surface utilization, these nanoscale catalyst layers provide high intrinsic activity at drastically reduced noble metal loadings. Our work demonstrates that Ir utilization efficiency can be increased by more than an order of magnitude compared with conventional coating techniques, offering a realistic path towards e.g. ultra-low loading proton-exchange membrane (PEM) electrolyzers.
Looking further, the versatility of ALD opens pathways to next-generation catalyst designs that go beyond CRM minimization into CRM elimination. Tailored ALD processes enable the deposition of PGM-lean or PGM-free catalytic materials with precise control over composition, thickness, and interfacial structure.
In this presentation, we will highlight ALD-based methodologies to reduce or replace CRMs in electrochemical energy systems, present recent performance results for low PGM loading electrolysis and fuel cells and discuss opportunities for scaling S-ALD toward industrial deployment.
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