Present status and future prospect of design of Pt–cerium oxide electrodes for fuel cell applications

In the research field of proton exchange membrane fuel cells, the design of electro-catalytic activities on Pt-oxide promoter in the anode side has attracted attention for improvement of CO tolerance of Pt in anode side and a lowering of large over-potential loss of the oxygen reduction reaction on the cathode in the fuel cells. In the Pt-oxide promoter series, Pt–CeOx/C is one of the unique systems. It is because the unique behavior of CeOx such as electrochemical redox reaction between Ce3+ and Ce4+ in the anodic and cathodic reactions of fuel cell is observed. The present short review gives an overview of the recent works for improvement of the CO tolerance of Pt in the Pt–CeOx/C anodes and enhancement of the oxygen reduction reaction activity on Pt in the Pt–CeOx/C cathodes for fuel cell application. To show the design paradigm for fabrication of high quality Pt–CeOx/C electrodes, the authors re-introduced parts of our research results to highlight the important role of interface structure of Pt–CeOx based on the ultimate analysis results. The usefulness of the combined approach of microanalysis and the processing route design is presented.