Insight Into Intermediate Behaviors and Design Strategies of Platinum Group Metal-Based Alkaline Hydrogen Oxidation Catalysts.

Abstract

Hydrogen oxidation reaction (HOR) can effectively convert the hydrogen energy through the hydrogen fuel cells, which plays an increasingly important role in the renewable hydrogen cycle. Nevertheless, when the electrolyte pH changes from acid to base, even with platinum group metal (PGM) catalysts, the HOR kinetics declines with several orders of magnitude. More critically, the pivotal role of reaction intermediates and interfacial environment during intermediate behaviors on alkaline HOR remains controversial. Therefore, exploring the exceptional PGM-based alkaline HOR electrocatalysts and identifying the reaction mechanism are indispensable for promoting the commercial development of hydrogen fuel cells. Consequently, the fundamental understanding of the HOR mechanism is first introduced, with emphases on the adsorption/desorption process of distinct reactive intermediates and the interfacial structure during catalytic process. Subsequently, with the guidance of reaction mechanism, the latest advances in the rational design of advanced PGM-based (Pt, Pd, Ir, Ru, Rh-based) alkaline HOR catalysts are discussed, focusing on the correlation between the intermediate behaviors and the electrocatalytic performance. Finally, given that the challenges standing in the development of the alkaline HOR, the prospect for the rational catalysts design and thorough mechanism investigation towards alkaline HOR are emphatically proposed.