There have been remarkable advances in both the development of promising core-shell catalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) and the understanding of the fundamental catalytic mechanisms, and it is clear that some of the low-PGM core-shell catalysts with enhanced activity and stability have great potential for use in PEMFCs. Particularly, the Pt-Co and Pt-Ni core-shell catalysts are considered promising materials for broad deployment to fuel cell systems, even after the shift of focus from light-duty vehicle (LDV) to heavy-duty vehicle (HDV) applications. Nevertheless, there are still various issues that need to be clearly addressed for the advanced core-shell catalysts. A deeper understanding of the mechanisms of catalytic enhancement must still be necessary. In this paper, we will address the recent development of nitrogen-doped Pt-based core-shell catalysts and discuss strategies to obtain the desired ORR performance of Pt-based core-shell catalysts, particularly for HDV fuel cell applications.

Acknowledgments

This manuscript has been authored by employees/guests of Brookhaven Science Associates, LLC under Contract No. DE-SC0012704 with the U.S. DOE. Additional work was performed by the Million Mile Fuel Cell Truck (M2FCT) Consortium, technology manager Greg Kleen, which is supported by the U.S. DOE, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technologies Office, under Contract No. DE-SC0012704 (BNL).