In a significant advancement towards sustainable energy production, a research team at the University of Twente, led by Dr Marco Altomare, has introduced an innovative method to reduce the reliance on precious metals like platinum in the production of green hydrogen. This breakthrough comes as a response to the urgent global need for transitioning towards sustainable energy sources to address climate change and the energy crisis. Green hydrogen is recognized as a crucial element in this transition, requiring efficient and compact technologies for large-scale deployment. The conventional Polymer Electrolyte Membrane (PEM) water electrolysers and fuel cells utilize expensive and scarce precious metal catalysts like platinum and iridium to ensure optimal efficiency in hydrogen production and conversion. However, the high cost and limited availability of these catalysts have been hindering the widespread adoption of hydrogen technologies. The U.S. Department of Energy has set ambitious targets to enhance the performance of these technologies by 2026 while reducing the usage of these precious metals significantly. Dr Marco Altomare's team, in collaboration with partners from Germany and Italy, focused on platinum as a model catalyst and employed a combination of physical vapour deposition (PVD) and controlled thermal treatments to develop electrodes with reduced precious metal content. This approach has shown promising results in lab experiments, indicating a potential fivefold reduction in the required precious catalyst amount without compromising hydrogen generation efficiency. One of the key advantages of this new method is its chemical-free nature, making it environmentally friendly and safe. Additionally, the scalability of the process is highlighted, with existing facilities at the University of Twente capable of coating catalyst layers on relatively large surfaces. This breakthrough represents a significant step towards overcoming the challenges associated with the expensive and limited availability of precious metal catalysts in hydrogen technologies, offering a more sustainable and cost-effective pathway for the future of green hydrogen production.