School of Chemical Engineering, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA 5005, Australia.
Small. 2012 Dec 7;8(23):3550-66. doi: 10.1002/smll.201200861. Epub 2012 Aug 15.
Replacing precious and nondurable Pt catalysts with cheap and commercially available materials to facilitate sluggish cathodic oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) is a key issue in the development of fuel cell technology. The recently developed cost effective and highly stable metal-free catalysts reveal comparable catalytic activity and significantly better fuel tolerance than that of current Pt-based catalysts; therefore, they can serve as feasible Pt alternatives for the next generation of ORR electrocatalysts. Their promising electrocatalytic properties and acceptable costs greatly promote the R&D of fuel cell technology. This review provides an overview of recent advances in state-of-the-art nanostructured metal-free electrocatalysts including nitrogen-doped carbons, graphitic-carbon nitride (g-C(3) N(4) )-based hybrids, and 2D graphene-based materials. A special emphasis is placed on the molecular design of these electrocatalysts, origin of their electrochemical reactivity, and ORR pathways. Finally, some perspectives are highlighted on the development of more efficient ORR electrocatalysts featuring high stability, low cost, and enhanced performance, which are the key factors to accelerate the commercialization of fuel cell technology.
用廉价且可商业获取的材料替代贵金属铂催化剂，以促进缓慢的阴极氧还原反应（ORR），这是燃料电池技术发展的关键问题。最近开发的成本效益高且稳定的无金属催化剂，其催化活性可与目前的铂基催化剂相媲美，并且对燃料的耐受性显著提高；因此，它们可以作为下一代 ORR 电催化剂中铂的可行替代品。其有前景的电催化性能和可接受的成本，极大地推动了燃料电池技术的研发。本文综述了最新的先进纳米结构无金属电催化剂的研究进展，包括氮掺杂碳、石墨相氮化碳（g-C(3)N(4)）基杂化物和二维石墨烯基材料。特别强调了这些电催化剂的分子设计、电化学活性的起源以及 ORR 途径。最后，强调了开发更高效的 ORR 电催化剂的重要性，这些电催化剂需要具有高稳定性、低成本和增强的性能，这是加速燃料电池技术商业化的关键因素。
