Advanced Energy Materials
Advanced Energy Materials
5 years ago

Nanostructuring Noble Metals as Unsupported Electrocatalysts for Polymer Electrolyte Fuel Cells

Nanostructuring Noble Metals as Unsupported Electrocatalysts for Polymer Electrolyte Fuel Cells
Bin Cai, Juan Herranz, Thomas J. Schmidt, Alexander Eychmüller, Sebastian Henning
Two major challenges that impede fuel cell technology breakthrough are the insufficient activity of the electrocatalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction and their degradation during operation, caused by the potential-induced corrosion of their carbon-support upon fuel cell operation. Unsupported electrocatalysts derived from tailored noble-metal nanostructures are superior to the conventional carbon-supported Pt nanoparticle catalysts and address these barriers by fine-tuning the surface composition and eliminating the support. Herein, recent efforts and achievements in the design, synthesis and characterization of unsupported electrocatalysts are reviewed, paying special attention to noble-metal aerogels, nano/meso-structured thin films and template-derived metal nanoarchitectures. Their electrocatalytic performances for oxygen reduction are compared and discussed, and examples of successful catalyst transfer to polymer electrolyte fuel cells are highlighted. This report aims to demonstrate the potential and challenges of implementing unsupported catalysts in fuel cells, thereby providing a perspective on the further development of these materials. Unsupported electrocatalysts derived from tailored noble metal nanostructures emerged as a promising catalyst candidate for fuel cells due to the elimination of support corrosion. Recent advances in the design, synthesis and characterization of carbon-free electrocatalysts are summarized. Their electrocatalytic performances for oxygen reduction are compared and discussed, and examples of successful catalyst transfer to polymer electrolyte fuel cells are highlighted.

Publisher URL: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/resolve/doi

DOI: 10.1002/aenm.201700548

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