Platinum Group Metal Free Catalysts for Electrochemical Energy Conversion Reactions

Dear Colleagues,

Electrochemical energy conversion devices (i.e., (co-)electrolyzers and fuel cells) are expected to play a pivotal role in our transition towards an environmentally sustainable society. However, the commercial success of these emerging technologies strongly relies on the reduction of the cost of their components, which is largely determined by the noble metal catalysts that are customarily used to speed up the reactions taking place at their electrodes. As a result,  an increasing research effort is being devoted to the study of inexpensive electrocatalysts based on non-noble metals, and is progressively leading to the identification of materials with exciting catalytic activities. However, further insight into the performance and durability of these materials under application-relevant conditions is still needed.

With this motivation, this Special Issue aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the ongoing developments in the field of non-noble metal electrocatalysis for the reduction of O₂, H₂, or CO₂. Experimental and/or theoretical studies dealing with the factors determining the catalytic activity and stability of such materials are of particular interest, specifically for catalysts containing molecularly dispersed, N-coordinated active centers. Also of great interest are works demonstrating the implementation and performance of these catalysts in electrochemical devices (i.e., fuel cells or (co-)electrolyzers).

Dr. Juan Herranz
Guest Editor

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• energy conversion
• fuel cell
• electrolyzer
• electrocatalysis
• oxygen reduction
• hydrogen evolution
• CO₂ reduction
• single atom catalysis
• composition–activity–stability relationship