Iridium-free electrolyzer catalyst by Lila Sciences: status and timeline

Iridium-free electrolyzer catalyst

Take scarce, costly iridium out of PEM electrolyzers so green hydrogen production can scale without a precious-metal bottleneck.

ResearchStage 1 of 5

Six palladium families found in three months; lead candidate lasted 1,000+ h in acid, now in electrode tests.

Checked 11 Oct0 updates this week

Milestones

Next · Durability tests in an industrial-style electrode format

2,942 catalysts screened in three months; 6 palladium families found25 Sep 2026Complete.
Lead candidate (InMnPdOx) runs 1,000+ hours in acidSep 2026Complete.
Durability tests in an industrial-style electrode formatNowCurrent milestone.

Current obstacles

From thin film to real electrodeA catalyst that lasts as a lab thin film must also hold up in the electrode form used in industrial electrolyzers, which Lila is now testing.
Not yet a productNo manufacturer or electrolyzer partner has been announced, so cost and supply at scale are still unknown.

Physics limits

Acid dissolves most metalsThe oxygen side of a PEM electrolyzer is strongly acidic and oxidising. Almost every cheap metal oxide dissolves there, which is why the field relies on iridium.
Activity and stability pull apartCatalysts that bind oxygen loosely enough to be very active also tend to break down faster. Ruthenium is more active than iridium but less stable, so every candidate trades one for the other.
Lab screens miss slow decayFast screening runs for minutes or hours, but electrolyzers must last tens of thousands of hours. Slow degradation only shows up in long tests, which cannot be sped up much.

How it works

4 parts

Propose

AI picks the recipes

Bayesian models, which weigh uncertainty, are combined with language models to choose which mixes of elements to try next.

Make

96 thin films at once

Robots deposit 96 candidate catalysts in parallel as thin films by vapour deposition, then check each one's actual composition.

Test

Fast screening in acid

Each film is tested for how well and how long it splits water into oxygen in acid, the harsh conditions inside a PEM electrolyzer.

Learn

Results steer the next round

Scores go back to the models, which pick the next batch. Lila says this screens about 17 times faster than a standard lab, with 90%+ less hands-on work.

Spec sheet

Spec	Iridium-free electrolyzer catalyst
Catalysts made and screened	2,942^R (reported)
Chemical systems explored	53 systems, 26 elements^R (reported)
High-performing families	6^R (reported)
Lead candidate acid stability	1,000+ h^R (reported)
Samples screened per week	240^R (reported)
Screening speed vs a standard lab	~17x^R (reported)

^R reported by the company

About Lila Sciences

The team behind Iridium-free electrolyzer catalyst

Lila Sciences

Scientific AI, robotic labs, materials discovery, drug discovery

Lila builds scientific superintelligence: reasoning model with robotic labs for hypothesis generation and experimental execution. Founded 2023 with $200M seed from Flagship Pioneering.

Pairs AI reasoning model (Lila Iris) with robotic labs to execute the scientific method at scale.
AI Science Factory generates hypotheses, designs and conducts experiments without human intervention.
Screened 2,942 green hydrogen catalysts in 3 months, identifying six high-performing families.

lila.ai (opens lila.ai)Company profile →

Founded: 20233 yrs
Headquarters: United States
Status: Private
Valuation: $8.5BprivateJun 2026
Raised: $2.5B3 rounds
Last round: Series B · $2B2026
Works in: AIAI for scienceMaterials
Coverage: 3 programs · 6 updateslatest 16d agochecked 10 Oct
Lead investors: California Public Employees' Retirement SystemNVenturesBraidwellCollective GlobalFlagship Pioneering
Customers: Pharma sector (opens lila.ai)Materials sector (opens lila.ai)
Investors: Flagship Pioneering (opens flagshippioneering.com)
People: Geoffrey von Maltzahn (opens lila.ai)CEO & Co-founderNoubar Afeyan (opens lila.ai)Co-founderMolly Gibson (opens lila.ai)Co-founderRafael Gómez-Bombarelli (opens lila.ai)Co-founder & Chief Scientific Officer, Physical Sciences

Spec

Iridium-free electrolyzer catalyst

Catalysts made and screened

2,942^R (reported)

Chemical systems explored

53 systems, 26 elements^R (reported)

High-performing families

6^R (reported)

Lead candidate acid stability

1,000+ h^R (reported)

Samples screened per week

240^R (reported)

Screening speed vs a standard lab

~17x^R (reported)