Affiliation:
1. State Key Laboratory of Organic-Inorganic Composites College of Chemical Engineering Beijing University of Chemical Technology Beijing 100029 China
2. ARC Centre of Excellence for Carbon Science and Innovation University of New South Wales Sydney NSW 2052 Australia
Abstract
AbstractOxygen reduction reaction (ORR) is vital for clean and renewable energy technologies, which require no fossil fuel but catalysts. Platinum (Pt) is the best‐known catalyst for ORR. However, its high cost and scarcity have severely hindered renewable energy devices (e.g., fuel cells) for large‐scale applications. Recent breakthroughs in carbon‐based metal‐free electrochemical catalysts (C‐MFECs) show great potential for earth‐abundant carbon materials as low‐cost metal‐free electrocatalysts towards ORR in acidic media. This article provides a focused, but critical review on C‐MFECs for ORR in acidic media with an emphasis on advances in the structure design and synthesis, fundamental understanding of the structure‐property relationship and electrocatalytic mechanisms, and their applications in proton exchange membrane fuel cells. Current challenges and future perspectives in this emerging field are also discussed.
Funder
National Natural Science Foundation of China
Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities
Australian Research Council