Recently, high operating efficiency and environmental friendliness
polymer electrolyte fuel cells (PEMFCs) have begun to move
from the demonstration phase to commercialization due to the
impressive research effort in recent years. Nevertheless, several
outstanding cost reduction problems and technological challenges
remain to be solved.Amongthe technological challenges in terms of
PEMFC electrodes, the development of anode electrocatalysts tolerant
to carbon monoxide and cathode electrocatalysts able to reduce
the overpotential encountered under open circuit conditions and
significantly enhance the exchange current density are the most
significant. One of the barriers to commercialization remains the
prohibitive cost of this technology. The U.S. Department of Energy
set long-term goals for PEMFC performance in a 50kW stack that
included operation with cathode loadings of 0.05mgcm−2 or less
of precious metals [1]. The limited supply and high cost of the
Pt used in PEMFC electrocatalysts necessitate a reduction in the
Pt level. Generally, there are two ways to reduce the use of Pt
in PEMFCs, that is (1) Pt electrodes with low Pt content and (2)
total or partial substitution of Pt with other metals. In the former