ionysis, ReCatalyst and EKPO Demonstrate PFAS‑Free Fuel Cell Stack
The project ENABLER, funded by European Innovation Council addresses one of the key challenges facing fuel cell technology today: replacing fluorinated materials (PFAS) while maintaining high performance and industrial relevance.
For the first time, a complete PEM fuel cell short stack was assembled using exclusively PFAS‑free components, including the membrane, electrode ionomers, and gas diffusion layers. Based on ReCatalyst’s high performance catalysts, ionysis built full-size and PFAS-free catalyst-coated membranes. The stack was successfully assembled, operated and tested at EKPO, demonstrating the fundamental feasibility of a fully PFAS‑free approach on true pilot level.
Within the project, the fully PFAS-free catalyst-coated membranes were characterized thoroughly: In full‑size single‑cell tests, the PFAS‑free catalyst‑coated membranes (CCMs) developed within ENABLER achieved current densities of up to 2 A/cm² at 0.65 V, placing them on par with state‑of‑the‑art PFSA‑based reference cells.
Stefan Dwenger, Managing Director of EKPO Fuel Cell Technologies, commented: “From our perspective, the ENABLER project is a strong proof point. We were able to operate and measure a fully PFAS‑free stack using EKPO’s commercialized NM12 platform. The results show that PFAS‑free material systems are no longer just a laboratory concept, but a considerable option for future fuel cell generations.”
Dr. Matija Gatalo, CEO of ReCatalyst, added:
ENABLER demonstrated how our advanced catalyst design and ionysis’ PFAS‑free electrode architectures can go hand in hand.
”Achieving this level of performance with our catalyst confirms the high quality of our patented catalyst technology – sustainable catalyst and MEA solutions do not require compromises in electrochemical activity.”
Lisa Langer, CFO of ionysis, stated:
The project was an important proof-point to de‑risk PFAS‑free MEA technology from both a technical and a business perspective.
”Demonstrating performance parity at full‑format single‑cell level, combined with successful stack operation, is a crucial step towards market readiness and future commercialization. But now, the real work begins with thorough performance and durability testing on stack level.”
As next steps, the project partners will focus on improving performance, long‑term durability testing and further process and integration improvements, with the goal of transferring the strong single‑cell results into robust and scalable stack performance.
The ENABLER project was funded by the European Innovation Council (EIC) and combines complementary expertise in catalyst development (ReCatalyst), PFAS-free MEA and CCM technology (ionysis), and industrial fuel cell stack validation (EKPO).
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ionysis, ReCatalyst and EKPO Demonstrate PFAS‑Free Fuel Cell Stack, source
