Pyrolyzed M–Nx catalysts for oxygen reduction reaction: progress and prospects

Ergui Luo; Yuyi Chu; Jie Liu; Zhaoping Shi; Siyuan Zhu; Liyuan Gong; Junjie Ge; Chang Hyuck Choi; Changpeng Liu; Wei Xing

doi:10.1039/D1EE00142F

Pyrolyzed M–N_x catalysts for oxygen reduction reaction: progress and prospects

Ergui Luo,†^ab Yuyi Chu,†^ab Jie Liu,^ab Zhaoping Shi,^ab Siyuan Zhu,

^ab Liyuan Gong,^ab Junjie Ge,*^ab Chang Hyuck Choi,

*^c Changpeng Liu

*^ab and Wei Xing

*^ab

Author affiliations

* Corresponding authors

^a State Key Laboratory of Electroanalytical Chemistry, Jilin Province Key Laboratory of Low Carbon Chemical Power, Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Changchun, Jilin, P. R. China
E-mail: gejj@ciac.ac.cn, liuchp@ciac.ac.cn, xingwei@ciac.ac.cn

^b School of Applied Chemistry and Engineering, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui, P. R. China

^c School of Materials Science and Engineering, Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology, Gwangju, Republic of Korea
E-mail: chchoi@gist.ac.kr

Abstract

Fuel cells, a sustainable technology that assures a cleaner earth, once experienced disillusion due to the issue of economic viability associated with the massive usage of Pt-based catalysts. To address this issue, research on cost-effective catalysts, especially on the cathode side, has been intensively carried out where the latest achievements have made the M–N_x/C material on its verge of application. Here, we present a comprehensive overview of the fundamental chemistry of oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) and the progress of the M–N_x/C catalysts. Efforts aimed at clarifying the nature of catalytic sites are summarized, highlighting the indispensable role of advanced characterization tools. A variety of successful attempts are exemplified to describe the synthetic methodologies, followed by close tracking of newly emerging single-atom or dual-atom sites. Future directions for this research area are believed to be the rational and/or controllable synthesis of catalysts with adequate active sites and the use of strategies to substantially alleviate catalyst degradation.

This article is part of the themed collection: Energy and Environmental Science Recent Review Articles

Energy & Environmental Science

Pyrolyzed M–N_x catalysts for oxygen reduction reaction: progress and prospects

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Pyrolyzed M–N_x catalysts for oxygen reduction reaction: progress and prospects

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