Johnson Matthey and Bosch announce fuel cell development partnership

The British chemical company Johnson Matthey has agreed a long-term collaboration with Bosch. The aim of the duo is to drive forward the development and manufacture of catalyst-coated membranes for use in fuel cell stacks. The technology is primarily intended to benefit commercial vehicles.

Johnson Matthey and Bosch have entered into a long-term collaboration to develop and manufacture catalyst-coated membranes (CCMs) for use in fuel cell stacks. Johnson Matthey’s CCMs will be used in Bosch’s integrated, compact and scalable fuel cell power module for commercial vehicles.

“JM is thrilled to be joining forces, exploring and developing future possibilities to accelerate cleaner mobility and energy generation,” said JM Hydrogen Technologies Chief Executive, Anish Taneja. Bosch Mobility’s Executive Vice President of Engineering Power Solutions, Beate Grota, added: “The fuel cell technology for mobile applications is technologically ready for widespread use. Our partnership aims to further increase the performance and efficiency of the fuel cell stacks.”

Prior to selling its battery business in 2021, Johnson Matthey was mainly known in the area of energy storage, for example, operating a battery centre in Oxford as well as a battery recycling facility together with Stena Recycling. By 2022, the course had changed, and Johnson Matthey started building a fuel cell component factory in the UK. A fuel cell development cooperation was also announced with Plug Power in 2023.

For its part, Bosch also has extensive experience with the development of fuel cell, even going as far as looking into the recycling of fuel cell stacks by 2023. Bosch also supplies fuel cell drives for Nikola’s trucks in Germany. Aviation will prove to be a new field for the German technology company, however, a few months ago, Bosch presented an electric drive system for boats, so moving to the air may not prove to be such a large leap.

matthey.com