Dr. Xiaotao Bi has recently co-authored a critical review titled “Progress in Modified Carbon Support Materials for Pt and Pt-Alloy Cathode Catalysts in Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cells” in the journal of Progress in Materials Science. Progress in Materials Science publishes authoritative and critical reviews of recent advances in the science of materials and their exploitation in engineering and other applications. Its Impact Factor is 31. The other authors are Dr. Yan-Jie Wang and Dr. Baizeng Fang from Chemical and Biological Engineering Department of UBC and Prof. Hui Li and Prof. Haijiang Wang from South University of Science and Technology of China (SUSTech).
H2-fed polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) are the most advanced fuel cell technology to date and continue to be of great interest as prospective energy sources in numerous applications, including for low/zero-emission electric vehicles, distributed power generators in homes, and small portable electronic devices. However, the commercialization of PEMFC technology has been greatly hindered by certain challenges, mainly the sluggish kinetics of the oxygen reduction reaction at the cathode and the high cost of Pt-based cathode catalysts, the latter presently accounting for over 55% of the total PEMFC cost. To overcome the limited stability of state-of-the-art Pt/C, Pt and Pt-alloy catalysts supported on modified carbon materials have garnered significant interest in recent years. It is therefore timely to compile a review that focuses on Pt and Pt-alloy catalysts supported on modified carbon materials, examining their current R&D status, applications, challenges, and future prospects.
This review provides a systematic and comprehensive survey of current Pt and Pt-alloy PEMFC cathode catalysts in terms of materials selection and design, synthesis methods, and structural features, emphasizing how these various aspects relate to the catalysts’ physicochemical characterization and performance, and with the aim of shedding light on the future direction of PEMFC research.
Link to the paper: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0079642516300299
Back in 2015, this research team had published a highly cited review paper titled “Carbon-Supported Pt-Based Alloy Electrocatalysts for the Oxygen Reduction Reaction in Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cells: Particle Size, Shape, and Composition Manipulation and Their Impact to Activity” in Chemical Reviews. Chemical Reviews is one of the most highly regarded and highest-ranked journals covering the general topic of chemistry which provides comprehensive, authoritative, critical, and readable reviews of important recent research. Its Impact Factor is 37.
Link to the paper: http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/cr500519c