Catalytic performance of nanostructured materials recently used for developing fuel cells’ electrodes

Fuel cell is a promising technique as a renewable source of energy. The beginning and development of fuel cells started since the early 1800s. Fuel cells can be classified according to the used electrolyte (acidic and alkaline fuel cells) or according to the operating temperature (low and high-temperature fuel cells). Each type has particular features needed for its applications. However, the fuel cells that used traditional Pt-based electrodes suffer from some disadvantages such as poor duration, methanol crossover, CO poisoning, shortage of resources and high costs. Subsequently, improving the fuel cell performance received an intensive interest. In the recent years, researchers are working continuously to enhance the performance of the fuel cells’ components such as utilization of nanostructured materials to modify the efficiency of the electrodes. This review article will give a short overview on the usage of nanostructured materials as catalysts to improve the kinetics of the reactions occurring in fuel cells; especially the oxygen reduction reactions (ORR) that take place at the cathode.