Chinese Journal of Catalysis ›› 2025, Vol. 68: 155-176.DOI: 10.1016/S1872-2067(24)60162-2

• Reviews • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Focus on the catalysts to resist the phosphate poisoning in high-temperature proton exchange membrane fuel cells

Liyuan Gonga,b,c, Li Taoc,d,*(), Lei Wanga, Xian-Zhu Fua,*(), Shuangyin Wangc,d,*()   

  1. aCollege of Materials Science and Engineering, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen 518055, Guangdong, China
    bCollege of Physics and Optoelectronic Engineering, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen 518060, Guangdong, China
    cState Key Laboratory of Chemo/Bio-Sensing and Chemometrics, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, the National Supercomputer Centers in Changsha, Advanced Catalytic Engineering Research Center of the Ministry of Education, Hunan University, Changsha 410082, Hunan, China
    dGreater Bay Area Institute for Innovation, Hunan University, Guangzhou 511300, Guangdong, China
  • Received:2024-08-16 Accepted:2024-10-08 Online:2025-01-18 Published:2025-01-02
  • Contact: * E-mail: taoli@hnu.edu.cn (L. Tao), xz.fu@szu.edu.cn (X. Fu), shuangyinwang@hnu.edu.cn (S. Wang).
  • About author:Li Tao received his Master degree in 2016 and his Ph.D. degree in 2019 from Hunan University under the supervision of Prof. Shuangyin Wang. He is currently an associate professor of the College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Hunan University. His research interests are in thermoelectric coupling catalysis, defect chemistry and fuel cell.
    Xian-Zhu Fu is currently a professor in the college of Materials Science and Engineering, Shenzhen University. He received his Ph.D. degree in Chemistry from Xiamen University in 2007. Then he joined the Department of Materials and Chemical Engineering at University of Alberta in Canada as a post-doctoral research flow and Lawrence Berkeley National Lab as a visiting scholar. From 2012-2017, he worked at the Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences. His research interests focus on electrochemistry/electrocatalysts for energy materials and devices, electronic materials and process.
    Shuangyin Wang received his bachelor’s degree in 2006 from Zhejiang University and his Ph.D. in 2010 from Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. He is currently a Professor of the Key Laboratory for Graphene Materials and Devices and College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Hunan University. His research interests are defect chemistry of electrocatalysts, HT-PEMFCs, and electrosynthesis.
  • Supported by:
    National Key R&D Program of China(2021YFA1500900);National Natural Science Foundation of China(22425021);National Natural Science Foundation of China(22102053);Provincial Natural Science Foundation of Hunan(2024JJ2012);Science and Technology Innovation Program of Hunan Province(2022RC1036);Guangdong Basic and Applied Basic Research Foundation(2024A1515012889);Shenzhen Science and technology program(JCYJ20210324122209025);Major Program of the Natural Science Foundation of Hunan Province(2021JC0006)

Abstract:

Investigating highly effective electrocatalysts for high-temperature proton exchange membrane fuel cells (HT-PEMFC) requires the resistance to phosphate acid (PA) poisoning at cathodic oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). Recent advancements in catalysts have focused on alleviating phosphoric anion adsorption on Pt-based catalysts with modified electronic structure or catalytic interface and developing Fe-N-C based catalysts with immunity of PA poisoning. Fe-N-C-based catalysts have emerged as promising alternatives to Pt-based catalysts, offering significant potential to overcome the characteristic adsorption of phosphate anion on Pt. An overview of these developments provides insights into catalytic mechanisms and facilitates the design of more efficient catalysts. This review begins with an exploration of basic poisoning principles, followed by a critical summary of characterization techniques employed to identified the underlying mechanism of poisoning effect. Attention is then directed to endeavors aimed at enhancing the HT-PEMFC performance by well-designed catalysts. Finally, the opportunities and challenges in developing the anti-PA poisoning strategy and practical HT-PEMFC is discussed. Through these discussions, a comprehensive understanding of PA-poisoning bottlenecks and inspire future research directions is aim to provided.

Key words: Fuel cell, High-temperature, Phosphate acid poisoning, Activity degradation, Electrocatalyst design