Chemical Research in Chinese Universities ›› 2020, Vol. 36 ›› Issue (3): 320-328.doi: 10.1007/s40242-020-0111-5

• Reviews • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Single-atom Catalysts for Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cells

ZHU Mengzhao, WANG Jing, WU Yuen   

  1. Department of Chemistry, iChEM(Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemistry for Energy Materials), University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230026, P. R. China
  • Received:2020-04-15 Revised:2020-05-09 Online:2020-06-01 Published:2020-05-11
  • Contact: WU Yuen E-mail:yuenwu@ustc.edu.cn
  • Supported by:
    Supported by the National Key R&D Program of China(Nos.2017YFA0208300, 2017YFA0700104), the National Natural Science Foundtion of China(Nos.21522107, 21671180, 21521091, U1463202, 21525313), the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities, China(No.WK2060120004), and the Postdoc Foundation Support, China(No.BH2060000111).

Abstract: Searching for high-activity, stability and highly cost-effective electrocatalysts for acid oxygen reaction reduction(ORR) has always been an urgent problem in polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells(PEMFCs). Nonetheless, the electrochemical properties of various systems have their intrinsic limits and tremendous efforts have been paid out to search for highly efficient electrocatalysts by more rational control over the size, morphology, composition, and structure. In particular, single-atom catalysts(SACs) have attracted extensive interest due to theirs excellent activity, stability, selectivity and the highest metal utilization. In recent years, the number of papers in the field of SACs has increased rapidly, indicating that SACs have made great progress. This review focuses on SACs electrochemical applications in the acid ORR and introduces innovative syntheses, fuel cell performance and long-time durability.

Key words: Single-atom catalyst, Oxygen reaction reduction, Polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell