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Kenneth I. Ozoemena Shaowei Chen Editors

Nanomaterials for Fuel Cell Catalysis

Nanostructure Science and Technology Series editor David J. Lockwood, FRSC National Research Council of Canada Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

More information about this series at http://www.springer.com/series/6331

Kenneth I. Ozoemena • Shaowei Chen Editors

Nanomaterials for Fuel Cell Catalysis

Editors Kenneth I. Ozoemena Council for Scientific and Industrial Research Pretoria, South Africa

Shaowei Chen Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry University of California Santa Cruz, CA, USA

ISSN 1571-5744 ISSN 2197-7976 (electronic) Nanostructure Science and Technology ISBN 978-3-319-26249-9 ISBN 978-3-319-29930-3 (eBook) DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-29930-3 Library of Congress Control Number: 2016942554 © Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2016 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. Printed on acid-free paper This Springer imprint is published by Springer Nature The registered company is Springer International Publishing AG Switzerland

Preface

Ready availability of sufficient energy resources is critical in virtually every aspect of our life. Whereas fossil fuels have remained our primary energy sources, extensive efforts have been devoted to fuel cell research in the past few decades, which represents a unique technology that will make substantial contributions to our energy needs by converting the chemical energy stored in small (organic) molecule fuels into electricity and, more importantly, exert minimal negative impacts on the environment. In fuel cell electrochemistry, the reactions typically involve the oxidation of fuel molecules at the anode and reduction of oxygen at the cathode. Both reactions require appropriate catalysts such that a sufficiently high current density can be generated for practical applications. Precious metals, in particular, the platinum group metals, have been used extensively as the catalysts of choice. Yet their high prices and limited reserves h