Pajarito Powder

Pajarito Powder, LLC is an American advanced-materials company based in Albuquerque, New Mexico, that develops and manufactures electrocatalysts for fuel cells and electrolyzers. The company positions itself at the center of the hydrogen economy, describing its mission as accelerating the transition to cleaner and more efficient energy solutions through cutting-edge catalyst technology. Its product portfolio spans supported platinum and platinum-alloy catalysts for fuel cell cathodes and anodes, high-purity iridium oxide (IrOx) oxygen evolution reaction (OER) catalysts for proton exchange membrane water electrolysis (PEMWE), and its proprietary Engineered Catalyst Supports™ (ECS) — mesoporous carbon materials that serve as foundational building blocks for high-performing catalysts. Pajarito Powder manufactures its products using a combination of its own trade secrets and intellectual property, together with IP licensed from Los Alamos National Laboratory. Its core manufacturing platform, VariPore™, is a template-based process that produces carbon support materials with highly tailorable morphologies, pore size distributions, surface areas and chemical compositions. These supports are designed to enhance catalyst activity, stability and durability, and to resist carbon corrosion while protecting catalyst particles from ionomer poisoning. The company sells to fuel cell and electrolyzer manufacturers, partnering with them to optimize their systems. Its iridium oxide OER catalyst is marketed on the strength of extremely high BET surface area (roughly 150–220 m²/g) and small crystallite size (about 2.2–2.5 nm by XRD), with durability targets such as less than 2.3 µV/h degradation at 1 mg Ir/cm² after 3,000 hours. Pajarito Powder's ECS supports host platinum and platinum-alloy particles within tortuous, interconnected pores that suppress particle growth and promote long-term durability. Pajarito Powder is privately held and backed by strategic investors including Technip Energies' Advanced Materials & Catalysts business, NV Bekaert SA, and Hyundai Motor Company and Kia Corporation, alongside other private investors. The company maintains a bilingual English/Japanese web presence, reflecting engagement with the Japanese and broader Asian hydrogen and fuel cell markets. In April 2026 the company announced the appointment of industry veteran Prof. Dr. Christian Mohrdieck as its new CEO, succeeding prior leadership. Its R&D team remains active in the scientific community, with invited presentations at the 249th Electrochemical Society meeting in Seattle in 2026 covering electrocatalyst scale-up and advanced carbon materials manufacturing.

Pajarito Powder, LLC is an advanced-materials company based in Albuquerque, New Mexico, dedicated to the development and commercialization of electrocatalyst technologies for fuel cells and electrolyzers. The company's name and location tie it to the Los Alamos, New Mexico region, and its technology base draws on intellectual property licensed from Los Alamos National Laboratory alongside its own trade secrets and internally developed IP. From its base in Albuquerque, Pajarito Powder built a business around the hydrogen economy — the use of hydrogen as a clean energy carrier enabled by fuel cells and water electrolyzers. Its core technical platform, VariPore™, is a template-based manufacturing method for producing mesoporous carbon support materials with highly tailorable morphologies, pore structures, surface areas and chemical compositions. These supports became the foundation of the company's Engineered Catalyst Supports™ (ECS) product line, which hosts platinum and platinum-alloy particles for fuel cell cathodes and anodes. The company expanded its portfolio to include high-purity iridium oxide (IrOx) oxygen evolution reaction catalysts for proton exchange membrane water electrolysis, a critical material for green hydrogen production, as well as non-PGM (platinum group metal) supported catalysts and PEMWE cathode (HER) catalysts. Pajarito Powder markets its products to fuel cell and electrolyzer manufacturers, working with them as a partner to optimize complete systems rather than simply supplying raw materials. Pajarito Powder is privately held and has attracted strategic investment from major industrial and automotive players. Its investor base includes Technip Energies' Advanced Materials & Catalysts business, NV Bekaert SA, and Hyundai Motor Company and Kia Corporation, along with other private investors. This backing reflects both the industrial-gas and engineering interests of Technip Energies and Bekaert and the automotive fuel cell interests of Hyundai and Kia. The company maintains a bilingual English/Japanese web presence, signaling active engagement with Japanese and broader Asian markets for hydrogen and fuel cell technology. Its research and development team participates in the scientific community; in 2026, R&D team members Dr. Michael Payne and Dr. Nico Dwarica gave invited presentations at the 249th Electrochemical Society (ECS) meeting in Seattle, Washington, covering the scale-up of supported PGM catalysts for PEM fuel cells and the R&D-to-manufacturing path for advanced carbon materials. In April 2026, Pajarito Powder announced the appointment of Prof. Dr. Christian Mohrdieck, an industry veteran, as its new CEO. Under his leadership the company has continued to engage publicly on the trajectory of hydrogen mobility, including a July 2026 appearance on the German Hanser automotive podcast 'Over the Air' discussing whether hydrogen mobility is fading or maturing into the applications where it makes sense. The company continues to describe its mission as accelerating the hydrogen economy with cutting-edge catalyst technology designed for a cleaner, more sustainable world.

• Pajarito Powder announces Christian Mohrdieck as new CEO.

• R&D team members Dr. Michael Payne and Dr. Nico Dwarica give invited presentations at the 249th Electrochemical Society meeting in Seattle, Washington (May 26–29, 2026).

• CEO Prof. Dr. Christian Mohrdieck featured on the German Hanser automotive podcast 'Over the Air' discussing the trajectory of hydrogen mobility.

Advanced electrocatalyst developer and manufacturer enabling the hydrogen economy, partnering with fuel cell and electrolyzer manufacturers to optimize their systems.

• Supported Platinum Catalyst

  Platinum and platinum-alloy catalysts on Engineered Catalyst Supports™ (ECS) with high surface area, internal porosity and anchoring sites; tortuous pores suppress particle growth and protect against ionomer poisoning. Includes Pt on ECS and Pt3Ni on ECS.

• Engineered Catalyst Supports™ (ECS)

  Mesoporous carbon supports made using a modified VariPore™ process, designed to resist carbon corrosion and improve catalyst adhesion and dispersion, with interconnected pores, tailorable pore sizes and embedded anchoring agents.

• Iridium Oxide OER Catalyst

  High-purity iridium oxide catalyst for PEM water electrolysis with extremely high BET surface area (~150–220 m²/g) and small crystallite size (~2.2–2.5 nm by XRD); durability target of <2.3 µV/h at 1 mg Ir/cm² after 3,000 hours.

• VariPore™

  A template-based manufacturing platform using specific precursors to create carbon support materials with highly tailorable morphologies, physical properties and chemical composition.

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