Research Progress on Anode Catalysts for Anion Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell

Anion exchange membrane fuel cell (AEMFC), benefiting from the intrinsically low corrosivity of its alkaline environment, offers significant potential to reduce or even eliminate reliance on platinum (Pt)-based precious metals, thereby lowering fuel cell costs and accelerating commercialization. However, the sluggish kinetics of the hydrogen oxidation reaction (HOR) at the anode and the difficulty of developing non-platinum catalysts remain major challenges for AEMFC development. This study addresses the key scientific issues of low activity and poor oxidation resistance in AEMFC anode HOR catalysts by introducing two strategies based on charge-transfer modulation to enhance catalytic performance. First, interfacial bonding with TiO₂ enables directional electron transfer, selectively tuning the d-orbital occupancy of Ru-based catalysts, thereby improving both HOR activity and oxidation resistance. Second, leveraging quantum confinement effects, a Ni@C-MoOx quantum-well catalytic architecture is constructed, where chemisorption triggers gated charge transfer, effectively suppressing Ni electro-oxidation and enabling non-precious metal anode AEMFC to resist hydrogen starvation.