Recent developments in electrocatalyst design thrifting noble metals in fuel cells

Proton exchange membrane fuel cells are uniquely placed as the key technology for the successful conversion of hydrogen-containing fuels to electricity and heat. Critically, they currently use platinum group metal (PGM) catalysts to meet performance targets in amounts too high for large scale market introduction cost targets. Here, the status, concepts and challenges of recent developments in engineered catalysts aimed at reducing the total PGM content in fuel cells are reviewed and the latest advances in the catalyst layer architecture design are discussed.