ABSTRACT
At the frontier of the energy supply system, significant effort has been devoted to fuel cells because of their advantages of environmental benignancy and high efficiency. The development of fuel cells has been hindered by the sluggish kinetics of the cathodic and anodic reactions. Numerous studies that applied noble metal nanocatalysts to fuel cells have gained momentum in recent years. In contrast to nanocatalysts with other nanostructures, one-dimensional (1D) nanowires (NWs) catalysts are attracting increased attention owing to their advantages, including high flexibility, boosted conductivity, robust structure stability, and high atom utilization. This chapter focuses on the research progress of nanowires catalysts in fuel cells and provides detailed guidance for future research directions. We firstly introduce the fundamental understanding of fuel cells, including classification, the reaction mechanism of cathode and anode reactions, and activity descriptors. Subsequently, the application of various NWs in different reactions is provided from the aspects of catalytic pathway and performance improvement mechanism. Finally, opportunities and challenges of NWs catalysts in fuel cell catalysis are proposed to guide the rational design of advanced electrocatalysts for applications in renewable energy devices.
