Electrocatalysis for Polymer Electrolyte Fuel Cells: Recent Achievements and Future Challenges

TLDR

Fuel cell technology is rapidly moving from research to commercialization, largely due to significant advances in electrocatalysis over the past decade. This perspective reviews the most impactful 10‑year advances in catalyst activity and durability for ethanol oxidation and oxygen reduction, and discusses future directions in support materials, characterization, and mechanistic studies. The cited studies collectively bring the field closer to meeting the technical requirements for polymer electrolyte fuel cell commercialization.

Abstract

Fuel cell technology is currently shifting very fast from fundamental research to real development. In addition to other aspects, this transition is possible because of the important improvements achieved in the field of electrocatalysis in the past decade. This perspective will give a focused overview summarizing the most outstanding contributions in the last 10 years in terms of activity and durability of the catalyst materials for ethanol oxidation and oxygen reduction reaction, respectively. In addition, it provides an outlook about new catalyst support materials with improved performance/stability, advanced characterization techniques, and fundamental studies of reaction mechanisms and degradation processes. All the studies referred to in this perspective significantly contribute to reaching the technical targets for PEFC commercialization.