Johnson Matthey, Bosch to collaborate on future projects

Hydrogen fuel cells are used across various types of commercial vehicles (Photo: AdobeStock)

Johnson Matthey (JM) and Robert Bosch have agreed a long-term collaboration venture which will see the partners jointly work on future projects.

The agreement confirms the intentions of both parties to work on development and production of catalyst coated membranes (CCM) for use in fuel cell stacks.

JM’s high performance CCMs will be used in Bosch’s integrated, compact and scalable fuel cell power module for commercial vehicles.

CCMs work by taking water into the system and using an iridium catalyst to break that down into oxygen, protons and electrons. The electrons are driven through an external circuit and protons cross the membrane. A platinum catalyst is used to rejoin the free protons and electrons to form hydrogen (H2).

JM Hydrogen Technologies chief executive, Anish Taneja, said: “JM is thrilled to be joining forces [with Bosch], exploring and developing future possibilities to accelerate cleaner mobility and energy generation.”

Beate Grota, Bosch Mobility’s executive VP of Engineering Power Solutions, 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.”

The agreement was finalised at Bosch’s fuel cell centre in Stuttgart-Feuerbach, Germany.

In early 2023, Johnson Matthey reported that it would partner with Plug Power, a hydrogen solutions provider, where JM would supply membrane electrode assembly components to Plug, a key component in CCM.

According to a JM spokesperson, that deal remains in place.

Additionally, in early 2025 it was reported that JM would look to dial back capital expenditure on its hydrogen technologies business. The JM spokesperson noted that the deal with Bosch would not change investment plans for the Hydrogen Technologies business at JM.

They added that the Hydrogen business remained on track to achieve outlined performance targets by the end of financial year 2025/’26.