Recent Developments of Metal-N-C Catalysts Toward Oxygen Reduction Reaction for Anion Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell: A Review

Abstract

Metal-N-C (MNC) catalysts have been anticipated as promising candidates for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) to achieve low-cost polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells. The structure of the M-Nx moiety enabled a high catalytic activity that was not observed in previously reported transition metal nanoparticle-based catalysts. Despite progress in non-precious metal catalysts, the low density of active sites of MNCs, which resulted in lower single-cell performance than Pt/C, needs to be resolved for practical application. This review focused on the recent studies and methodologies aimed to overcome these limitations and develop an inexpensive catalyst with excellent activity and durability in an alkaline environment. It included the possibility of non-precious metals as active materials for ORR catalysts, starting from Co phthalocyanine as ORR catalyst and the development of methodologies (e.g., metal-coordinated N-containing polymers, metal-organic frame-works) to form active sites, M-Nx moieties. Thereafter, the motivation, procedures, and progress of the latest research on the design of catalyst morphology for improved mass transport ability and active site engineering that allowed the promoted ORR kinetics were discussed. © 2024, Korean Electrochemical Society. All rights reserved.