Platinum is used as the catalyst in electrolysers that store electric energy as chemical compounds, and it also plays an important role in fuel cells, catalytic converters and many chemical processes used in industry.

A group of Aalto University researchers led by professors Tanja Kallio and Kari Laasonen has developed a manufacturing method for electrocatalysts that only uses one hundredth of the amount of platinum generally used in commercial products. Platinum is a very expensive metal and it is therefore one of the bottlenecks hindering the growth of renewable energy.