Nonplatinum cathodic catalysts for fuel cells with alkaline electrolyte (Review)

The review is devoted to the analysis of the state-of-the-art in the development of highly dispersed non-platinum catalysts of D-2 electroreduction and their use in cathodes of alkaline fuel cell. Attention is focused on the development of catalysts for fuel cells with anion-exchange membrane. The range of catalytic materials under consideration includes complex oxides, unmodified carbon materials and also carbon materials doped with a transition metal and/or nitrogen. The main synthetic methods for nanodispersed catalysts are considered, particularly those used for synthesizing new types of N-doped carbon materials. A comparative description of peculiarities of D-2 reduction on different groups of catalysts is carried out. The possible nature of catalytically active centers is discussed. The problems of further studies on the development of nonplatinum catalysts for fuel-cells cathodes with anion-exchange membranes are formulated.