Impacts of Surface Functionalization on the Electrocatalytic Activity of Noble Metals and Nanoparticles

Low temperature fuel cells are a promising clean energy source, which can directly convert the chemical energy stored in hydrogen and small organic molecules (e.g., methanol, ethanol, and formic acid) into electrical energy with high efficiency, and thus find extensive applications in, for instance, automobiles and portable electronic devices. However, the commercialization of fuel cells is seriously impeded by the poor performance of the electrocatalysts for oxygen reduction reactions (ORR), and oxidation of small organic molecules.1, 2 The sluggish kinetics of these reactions, even catalyzed by high loading of Ptbased catalysts, results in significant losses in thermal efficiency. Therefore, great efforts have been dedicated to improving the electrocatalytic performance of noble metals in the past decades.