Earth-Abundant Nanomaterials for Oxygen Reduction

• Published in: Angewandte Chemie International Edition Vol. 55; no. 8; pp. 2650 - 2676
• Main Authors: Xia, Wei, Mahmood, Asif, Liang, Zibin, Zou, Ruqiang, Guo, Shaojun
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Germany Blackwell Publishing Ltd 18.02.2016; Wiley Subscription Services, Inc
• Edition: International ed. in English
• Subjects: Catalysis; Catalytic activity; Design engineering; Design optimization; Devices; Earth; Electrocatalysts; Energy; Fuel cells; Fuels; Mass transport; Nanomaterials; Nanostructure; Nanotechnology; Oxygen; oxygen reduction; Oxygen reduction reactions; Platinum; platinum-free catalysts; Renewable energy; Sustainable energy; Transport properties; fuel cells; nanostructure; electrocatalysts; platinum-free catalysts; oxygen reduction
• ISSN: 1433-7851; 1521-3773; 1521-3773
• DOI: 10.1002/anie.201504830

Replacing the rare and precious platinum (Pt) electrocatalysts with earth‐abundant materials for promoting the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) at the cathode of fuel cells is of great interest in developing high‐performance sustainable energy devices. However, the challenging issues associated with non‐Pt materials are still their low intrinsic catalytic activity, limited active sites, and the poor mass transport properties. Recent advances in material sciences and nanotechnology enable rational design of new earth‐abundant materials with optimized composition and fine nanostructure, providing new opportunities for enhancing ORR performance at the molecular level. This Review highlights recent breakthroughs in engineering nanocatalysts based on the earth‐abundant materials for boosting ORR. Pt free: Great efforts have been devoted to designing and optimizing earth‐abundant nanomaterials for use as catalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). These new catalysts have improved intrinsic catalytic activity, stability, and selectivity as well as performances nearing that of the classical platinum‐based catalysts. This Review highlights the recent breakthroughs in engineering non‐Pt nanomaterials with advanced structures for enhanced ORR catalysis.