Demand from conventional vehicle construction is likely to fall in the long term; new areas of application for the precious metal are conceivable thanks to its high selectivity for hydrogen.
The Hanau-based technology group Heraeus Precious Metals and Sibanye-Stillwater, one of the world’s most important precious metal producers, want to work together to find new uses for platinum metals in the hydrogen economy. According to a joint press release (PDF), the focus will be on palladium. Due to its high selectivity for hydrogen, palladium is suitable for numerous application areas. This includes the production of blue hydrogen. This is obtained from fossil sources, but thanks to various processes, no climate-damaging gases are released into the atmosphere.
Palladium is currently mainly used for vehicle catalytic converters. Due to the trend towards electric cars, demand from this industry will likely decline in the long term, so there is time to research new application areas. In the medium term, however, hybrid vehicles are likely to dominate, as Neal Froneman, CEO of Sibanye-Stillwater, comments. Catalytic converters are also used here.
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