How much iridium does your design need?
Loading and power density become grams per kilowatt — then tonnes per gigawatt, and a share of the world's annual supply.
Catalyst
Operating point
Deployment
Primary iridium production is roughly 7–8 tonnes per year and is a by-product of platinum mining, so it responds slowly to demand. That constraint — not catalyst activity — is what makes loading reduction an economic question. Method v0.1, see /method.
Questions
What is iridium intensity?
Grams of iridium required per kilowatt of electrolyser capacity. It is loading divided by power density, and it is the number that decides whether a catalyst can be deployed at scale.
Why is iridium the constraint?
Primary production is roughly 7–8 tonnes a year, as a by-product of platinum mining. Because it is a by-product, supply responds to platinum demand rather than to iridium demand, so it cannot scale quickly no matter the price.
What intensity is low enough?
Widely discussed targets for large-scale PEM deployment sit well below 0.1 g/kW, against earlier commercial designs an order of magnitude higher. Treat any specific target as a moving commercial judgement rather than a fixed technical threshold.
Does raising current density help?
Yes — intensity falls as power density rises, which is why loading and operating point have to be considered together. But higher current density also raises overpotential and energy cost, so it is a trade-off, not a free win.
Screen for lower loading, not just lower overpotential
Run a substitution series and see activity, stability and iridium intensity together.
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