Rational Design of Competitive Electrocatalysts for Hydrogen Fuel Cells

The large-scale application of one of the most promising clean and renewable sources of energy, hydrogen fuel cells, still awaits efficient and cost-effective electrocatalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) occurring on the cathode. We demonstrate that truly rational design renders electrocatalysts possessing both qualities. By unifying the knowledge on surface morphology, composition, electronic structure, and reactivity, we solve that trimetallic sandwich-like structures are an excellent choice for optimization. Their constituting species are expected to couple synergistically yielding reaction-environment stability, cost-effectiveness, and tunable reactivity. This cooperative-action concept enabled us to predict two advantageous ORR electrocatalysts: Pd/Fe/W(110) and Au/Ru/W(110). Density functional theory calculations of the reaction free-energy diagrams suggest that these materials are more active toward ORR than the so-far best Pt-based catalysts. Our designing concept advances also a general approach for engineering advanced materials.