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Cited by 49Fuel Cells and Related MaterialsElectrocatalysts for Energy ConversionAdvancements in Solid Oxide Fuel Cells

Proton Exchange Membrane (PEM) Fuel Cells with Platinum Group Metal (PGM)-Free Cathode

Open access
Du, Lei, Zhang, Gaixia, Sun, Shuhui·2021·Automotive Innovation
DOI 10.1007/s42154-021-00146-0PMC PMC8591785
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Abstract

Proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cells have gained increasing interest from academia and industry, due to its remarkable advantages including high efficiency, high energy density, high power density, and fast refueling, also because of the urgent demand for clean and renewable energy. One of the biggest challenges for PEM fuel cell technology is the high cost, attributed to the use of precious platinum group metals (PGM), e.g., Pt, particularly at cathodes where sluggish oxygen reduction reaction takes place. Two primary ways have been paved to address this cost challenge: one named low-loading PGM-based catalysts and another one is non-precious metal-based or PGM-free catalysts. Particularly for the PGM-free catalysts, tremendous efforts have been made to improve the performance and durability—milestones have been achieved in the corresponding PEM fuel cells. Even though the current status is still far from meeting the expectations. More efforts are thus required to further research and develop the desired PGM-free catalysts for cathodes in PEM fuel cells. Herein, this paper discusses the most recent progress of PGM-free catalysts and their applications in the practical membrane electrolyte assembly and PEM fuel cells. The most promising directions for future research and development are pointed out in terms of enhancing the intrinsic activity, reducing the degradation, as well as the study at the level of fuel cell stacks.

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  • PGM-free catalysts are promising alternatives to replace costly and scarce Pt catalysts.

    “In addition to the significant progress in Pt-based catalysts for ORR, a large number of efforts have been devoted to Pt-group-metal-free (PGM-free) catalysts, which are promising alternatives to replace costly and scarce Pt catalysts [44,45].”

    From Recent Advances on PEM Fuel Cells: From Key Materials to Membrane Electrode Assembly (2023) · cites this paper as [44]

    The Introduction says Pt-based PGM catalysts raise fuel-cell costs and calls replacing cathode PGMs with PGM-free alternatives a promising strategy. The section on high-performance PGM-free catalysts also describes them as a promising replacement. Our copy does not establish the claim that Pt is scarce. (LLM, conf=0.84)

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Research works printed but not linked: 27

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Sorted by citations

Authors
Du, L., Zhang, G., & Sun, S.
Affiliations
  • Harbin Institute of Technology (CN)
  • Institut National de la Recherche Scientifique (CA)
Corresponding author
  • Zhang, Gaixia
  • Sun, Shuhui
ORCID
Venue
Automotive Innovation
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Published
2021-04-28
Volume
4
Issue
2
Pages
131-143
ISSN
  • 2096-4250 (ISSN-L)
  • 2522-8765
DOI
10.1007/s42154-021-00146-0
PMC
PMC8591785
OpenAlex
W3158158385
Cited by
49
References
1
Citations by year
2026: 7 · 2025: 11 · 2024: 8 · 2023: 16 · 2022: 7
FWCI
2.28
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • Automotive Innovation (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Espace ÉTS (ETS) (submittedVersion)
Funders
  • Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada
  • Fonds de Recherche du Québec - Nature et Technologies
  • Centre Québécois sur les Materiaux Fonctionnels
  • Institut National de la Recherche Scientifique
  • National Natural Science Foundation of China (21805064)
  • International Postdoctoral Exchange Fellowship Program (20180072)
  • Fonds de Recherche du Québec-Nature et Technologies (274384)
  • ECS-Toyota Young Investigator Fellowship
Topics
  • Physical Sciences › Engineering › Electrical and Electronic Engineering › Fuel Cells and Related Materials
  • Physical Sciences › Energy › Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment › Electrocatalysts for Energy Conversion
  • Physical Sciences › Materials Science › Materials Chemistry › Advancements in Solid Oxide Fuel Cells
Keywords
proton exchange membrane fuel cells, oxygen reduction reaction, non-noble metal catalysts, platinum group metals, catalyst cost reduction, catalyst deactivation, fuel cell stack

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