Platinum group metal-free Fe-based (Fe[sbnd]N[sbnd]C) oxygen reduction electrocatalysts for direct alcohol fuel cells

Enrico Berretti, Mariangela Longhi, Plamen Atanassov, David Sebastián, Carmelo Lo Vecchio, Vincenzo Baglio, Alexey Serov, Andrea Marchionni, Francesco Vizza, Carlo Santoro, Alessandro Lavacchi

Research output: Contribution to journalReview articlepeer-review

29 Scopus citations

Abstract

In direct alcohol fuel cells (DAFCs), the oxidation of alcohols happens at the expenses of the oxygen reduction reaction at the cathode. DAFCs' cathodes use a significant amount of platinum that is an expensive critical raw material. Moreover, platinum oxidizes alcohols, a fact that combined with alcohol crossover, decreases significantly the performance of the cells. The use of Fe-based (Fe[sbnd]N[sbnd]C) platinum group metal–free (PGM-free) cathodes is a convenient strategy to overcome these limitations. This review analyzes the application of PGM-free cathodes to DAFCs. The discussion focuses on acidic systems and covers the following subjects: (i) the breakdown of DAFC potential in its components, (ii) the analysis of the advantages from the use of the PGM-free cathode, and (iii) a review of the performance and durability of DAFCs. The review closes with a view of the authors of the future perspective for the research.

Original languageEnglish
Article number100756
JournalCurrent Opinion in Electrochemistry
Volume29
DOIs
StatePublished - Oct 2021
Externally publishedYes

Funding

AS gratefully acknowledges financial support from US DOE EERE ( DE-EE0008419 ‘Active and Durable PGM-free Cathodic Electrocatalysts for Fuel Cell Application’). EB, AL, AM, and FV gratefully acknowledge financial support from Italian Ministry for University and Research PRIN 2017 (grant no. 2017YH9MRK ). CS would like to acknowledge the support from the Italian Ministry of Education, Universities and Research ( Ministero dell’Istruzione, dell’Università e della Ricerca – MIUR) through the ‘Rita Levi Montalcini 2018’ Fellowship (grant number: PGR18MAZLI ). Financial support from the Italian Ministry of University and Research ( MIUR ) through grant ‘Dipartimenti di Eccellenza – 2017 – Materials for energy’ is gratefully acknowledged.

Keywords

  • Alcohol tolerance
  • Cathode
  • Direct alcohol fuel cell
  • Platinum group metal–free catalysts

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