Ecovyst invests in hydrogen catalyst company Pajarito Powder
Materials firm Ecovyst Inc has announced a equity investment of US$4.5 million in Pajarito Powder, a company that specialises in supports and catalysts required for electrolysers and fuel cells.
This investment in Pajarito Powder reflects Ecovyst’s belief that hydrogen produced via electrolysis will become a widely used, low-carbon fuel for heavy-duty transportation and Industrial applications.
As noted in a recent report by Bloomberg, the green hydrogen market is expected to grow more than 20 times by 2030 to 10 million tonnes, from an estimated 0.4 million tonnes in 2024. Pajarito Powder has successfully developed a broad range of supports and catalysts targeting improved performance and lower costs for electrolysers and fuel cells, which are critical technologies to enable growth in the hydrogen economy.
Pajarito Powder is expected to deploy the Ecovyst investment to advance its strongly positioned technology, deepen customer partnerships, and build its business. In conjunction with this investment, Ecovyst and Pajarito also expect to engage in joint development efforts that take advantage of both companies’ competencies in material science and manufacturing. As a result of its investment, Ecovyst will also appoint a representative to the Board of Directors of Pajarito Powder.
“Ecovyst has already developed deep internal capabilities to serve renewable and sustainable fuels, bio-catalysis and carbon capture and sequestration. Investing in emerging catalyst technologies focused on the hydrogen economy is a logical next step for us,” highlighted Kurt Bitting, CEO of Ecovyst.
“We are excited about expanding our capabilities into the emerging hydrogen economy by partnering with a technology leader such as Pajarito Powder.”
Pajarito Powder and Ecovyst plan to initiate various joint development agreements to develop the technology platforms of each company, including the use of mesoporous carbon for new applications.
“We have deep materials science and catalyst capabilities developed over four decades,” said Paul Whittleston, President of the Advanced Materials & Catalysts segment at Ecovyst. “Leveraging our know-how in catalyst scale up and manufacturing along with our global footprint to support Pajarito Powder to achieve its business plan is a natural win-win. We also believe there are great opportunities to build on the mesoporous carbon capabilities of Pajarito Powder for many new growth applications, including carbon capture.”
