ABSTRACT
Fuel cells are highly promising electrochemical devices as they are sustainable, clean, and environmentally benign. The scarcity of expensive noble-metal-based catalysts has triggered the quest for cheap, abundant, and efficient substitutes for multifunctional electrochemical energy systems. Electron transfer rates of the cathodic reactions and the sluggish reaction kinetics are the bottlenecks in fuel cells that decide the overall energy conversion efficiency. In order to improve electrocatalyst efficiency, many new Pt-alternatives have been developed. Among them, conductive polymers exhibit remarkable electrocatalytic performance parameters, including low onset potential, elevated electrocatalytic activity, and outstanding long-term durability, which make them cost-effective, efficient, and high-performance electrocatalysts. The synthesis and characterization methods of various electrocatalysts developed using conducting polymers are reviewed in this chapter. Furthermore, this chapter presents an overview of the techniques employed to evaluate the performance of conducting polymer-based electrocatalysts.
Conducting polymers, electrocatalysts, overpotential, hydrogen evolution, oxygen evolution
