NITROGEN-DOPED CARBON ELECTROCATALYSTS FOR PROTON EXCHANGE MEMBRANE FUEL CELLS

摘要

Proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC), as a competitive renewable energy device amongst alternative energies, has garnered great attentions around the world in the past decade because of their advantages such as environmentally friendly, high energy efficiency and power density. However, the dependence on expensive Pt-based electrocatalysts in PEMFC remains a major obstacle for a widespread deployment of this technology. Research efforts have been focused on lowering the cost of the electrocatalysts by two approaches including reducing the Pt loading and exploring non-precious catalysts alternative of Pt-based catalysts. Among the widely investigated non-noble catalysts, the chalcogenides and the transition metal chelates are regarded as the most promising non-precious catalysts due to their high activity towards the ORR, making them potential to address the cost issues of electrocatalysts in PEMFC. However, the activities and stabilities of the transition metal chelates and chalcogenides still can not meet the requirement of PEMFC.