Electrocatalysts in Hydrogen Storage and Fuel Cells
A special issue of Catalysts (ISSN 2073-4344). This special issue belongs to the section "Electrocatalysis".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 February 2020)
Special Issue Editors
Interests: energy materials; electrochemistry; electrochemical engineering; hydrogen & fuel cells; sonochemistry
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear colleagues,
Many countries in the world are unanimous in the attempt of reducing carbon emissions by 30-40% by 2030 and completely by 2050 whilst increasing energy efficiency. Hydrogen energy is one of the many solutions for reducing greenhouse gases and particulate emissions as long as it is produced from renewable energy, e.g. via the use of cost-effective and efficient electrolysers, such as proton exchange water electrolyser (PEMWE) and alkaline water electrolyser (AWE).
The United States (US) Department of Energy (DoE) projected hydrogen and fuel cell systems’ costs at US$4-5 per kg (projected status based on large-scale deployments of a portfolio of hydrogen production, delivery & dispensing) and US$30 per kWnet (ultimate target) respectively for 2020. The ability of producing catalysts with reduced Platinum Group Metal (PGM) content at lower costs and with higher efficiencies will contribute to meeting those projected criteria.
The anode and cathode catalysts in proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) and PEMWEs all contained precious-metal catalysts (e.g. Ir, Pt, Rh, Ru, Pt-Ru, Pt-Rh, and IrO, etc). The reduction of the PGM catalyst loading of both the anode and cathode electrodes of PEMFC and PEMWE without compromising their performance and durability is a challenge. The lowering of the manufacturing and raw material costs can further help in the successful market deployment of these hydrogen technologies.
Therefore, strategies for reducing the PGM content in the PEMFC and PEMWE electrodes are very important for reducing the overall cost of the systems. Some PGM reduction strategies can include (i) lowering the PGM loading by alloying PGM (either as binary or ternary) with a secondary metal, (ii) replacing PGM by a non-precious electrocatalyst (inorganic or organic), and (iii) maximising the effective surface area of the PGM catalyst by creating unique nanostructures.
Worldwide, many R&D projects both in academia and in industry are tackling the heart of the problem by researching and developing low-cost, highly performing and durable fuel cell and electrolyser electrocatalysts.
This Special Issue will focus on the experimental, theoretical, fundamental and applied investigations into existing and novel electrocatalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR), the hydrogen oxidation reaction (HOR), the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) and the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) in PEMFCs, PEMWEs and AWEs with a particular interest in efficient PGM catalysts, PGM-free and Ti-free catalysts, catalyst utilisation, catalyst durability and stability.
Prof. Dr. Bruno G. Pollet
Dr. Sivakumar Pasupathi
Guest Editor
Manuscript Submission Information
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Keywords
- Electrocatalysts
- Proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC)
- Proton exchange water electrolyser (PEMWE)
- Alkaline water electrolyser (AWE)
- Oxygen reduction reaction (ORR)
- Oxygen evolution reaction (OER)
- Hydrogen evolution reaction (HER)
