Nanostructured transition-metal phthalocyanine complexes for catalytic oxygen reduction reaction

Oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) plays a key role in the field of fuel cells. Efficient electrocatalysts for the ORR are important for fuel cells commercialization. Pt and its alloys are main active materials for ORR. However, their high cost and susceptibility to time-dependent drift hinders their applicability. Satisfactory catalytic activity of nanostructured transition metal phthalocyanine complexes (MPc) in ORR through the occurrence of molecular catalysis on the surface of MPc indicates their potential as a replacement material for precious-metal catalysts. Problems of MPc are analyzed on the basis of chemical structure and microstructure characteristics used in oxygen reduction catalysis, and the strategy for controlling the structure of MPc is proposed to improve the catalytic performance of ORR in this review.

Automated summary

Oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) is a key step in fuel cells. Finding efficient electrocatalysts is important for commercialization. Platinum and its alloys are the main active materials used, but their high cost and susceptibility to time-dependent drift limit their applicability. Nanostructured transition metal phthalocyanine complexes (MPc) show satisfactory catalytic activity in ORR, indicating their potential as a replacement for precious-metal catalysts. This review analyzes the problems of MPc based on its chemical structure and microstructure characteristics, and proposes a strategy to control the structure of MPc to improve the catalytic performance of ORR.