A judgement repeated across the industry: PEM electrolysis still depends on imported core materials, and material self-sufficiency is what green hydrogen scale-up is waiting on. Three items are usually named — the proton exchange membrane, the gas diffusion layer, and the high-precision catalyst. This page does one thing: it tells you which of the three we supply, which two we do not, and what cannot be stated loosely even within the one we do.
| Bottleneck | Us | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Proton exchange membrane | We do not | Perfluorosulfonic acid membranes are a fluoropolymer chemistry business and outside what we do. If a nano-powder company tells you it can also supply your membrane, that is worth a few more questions. |
| Gas diffusion layer | We do not | Carbon paper or cloth and its hydrophobic treatment, likewise outside our scope. |
| High-precision catalyst | This one we do | But the cathode (HER) and the anode (OER) have to be separated. That is the section below. |
We put the two we cannot do first, because in this industry a blurred boundary costs more than an admission. Procurement finds out eventually, and by then what is lost is more than one order.
Most summaries compress this into one phrase, “high-precision catalyst”. Commercially they are two materials, two supply chains and two very different degrees of scarcity.
| Material | Nano platinum powder (SP-B00101) |
|---|---|
| Purity | 97% specified, 99.2% by ICP |
| BET surface area | 35 m²/g |
| Primary / secondary particle size | 5–20 nm / <200 nm (secondary published as a specification, not hidden) |
| Morphology / density | Spherical · 21.45 g/cm³ |
| Packaging | 10 g or 100 g bottles, per-batch certificate of analysis on request |
Cathode economics are decided by platinum utilisation, not purity. Catalysis happens on the surface; platinum in the interior of a particle is paid for and does nothing. We wrote that argument out separately.
The real scarcity on a PEM anode is iridium, not ruthenium and not platinum. Global iridium supply runs to only a few tonnes a year and is heavily concentrated as a by-product of South African PGM mining. That is the hardest ceiling on PEM scale-up. Any summary that says “catalyst bottleneck” without naming iridium has not reached the actual constraint.
| Material | Nano ruthenium dioxide dihydrate (SP-R00102) |
|---|---|
| Assay | RuO₂·2H₂O = 99.5% by ICP |
| Position | RuO₂ is one of the two benchmark OER catalysts alongside IrO₂ |
| ⚠ The trade-off you must know | RuO₂ is generally more active for OER than IrO₂, but less stable under the strongly acidic, high-potential conditions of a PEM anode, where dissolution is the known failure mode. The common industry response is a Ru–Ir mixed oxide that balances activity against lifetime, rather than replacing iridium outright. |
| Established uses | DSA dimensionally stable anodes (chlor-alkali, plating) and pseudocapacitor electrodes, where RuO₂ has a long track record |
So you will not hear us say that RuO₂ replaces iridium and solves the PEM catalyst bottleneck. It is not true, and it would not survive your technical team. What we supply is high-purity RuO₂ as a raw material for mixed-oxide formulations, DSA electrodes and research evaluation.
Only the catalyst. We do not make the proton exchange membrane or the gas diffusion layer, and we will not introduce a nominal partner to blur that answer.
No. Iridium is the oxygen-evolution catalyst on the PEM anode; platinum is the hydrogen-evolution catalyst on the cathode. Different reactions, not interchangeable. The hardest material constraint on PEM scale-up is annual iridium supply, and that is not a problem we can solve or pretend to solve.
Not outright. RuO2 is generally more active for oxygen evolution but less stable than IrO2 under the acidic high-potential conditions of a PEM anode, where dissolution is the known failure mode. The usual industry response is a Ru-Ir mixed oxide. We supply 99.5% RuO2 as a raw material for mixed-oxide formulations, DSA electrodes and research.
Because your technical team will ask, and vagueness only adds a round to the evaluation. Drawing the boundary clearly saves both sides time, and when a case does fall inside it, the trust is already there.
Nano platinum in 10 g or 100 g bottles; RuO2 quoted per requirement. Per-batch certificate of analysis for both. Evaluation quantities are the normal starting point.
Tell us which electrode side and which system — a real person replies within 1–2 business days.