PGM-Free Biomass-Derived Electrocatalysts for Oxygen Reduction in Energy Conversion Devices: Promising Materials

Stefano Zago; Laura C. Scarpetta-Pizo; José H. Zagal; Stefania Specchia

doi:10.1007/s41918-023-00197-3

Electrochemical Energy Reviews ›› 2024, Vol. 7 ›› Issue (1) DOI: 10.1007/s41918-023-00197-3

Review Article

PGM-Free Biomass-Derived Electrocatalysts for Oxygen Reduction in Energy Conversion Devices: Promising Materials

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¹Department of Applied Science and Technology, Politecnico di Torino, Corso Duca Degli Abruzzi 24, 10129, Turin, Italy

²Departamento de Química de los Materiales, Laboratorio de Electrocatálisis y Electrónica Molecular, Universidad de Santiago de Chile, Ada. Bernardo O’higgins 3363, 9170022, Santiago, Chile

^c jose.zagal@usach.cl

^d stefania.specchia@polito.it

Stefano Zago

obtained his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Chemistry from the University of Turin (Italy). He recently obtained his Ph.D. degree in Chemical Engineering from the Politecnico di Torino, working in the field of fuel cells and synthetizing a series of electrocatalysts for oxygen reduction reaction using waste biomass, under the supervision of Prof. Stefania Specchia. He also collaborated for a few months with Ontario Tech University (Oshawa, Canada). Other than fuel cells, his research interests involve porous materials such as metal organic frameworks.

Laura C. Scarpetta-Pizo

studied Chemistry at the Universidad of the Amazonia, Colombia. She obtained a master degree in Chemistry from the University of Santiago de Chile and worked on heterogeneous catalysis for the nitration of aromatic compounds. Currently, she is working on her Ph.D. in chemistry, focusing on molecular electronics and electrocatalysis, under the supervision of Prof. José H. Zagal and Prof. Ingrid Ponce at the University of Santiago de Chile. She studies correlations between the electronic properties of molecular catalysts and their activity for the reduction of O₂ in aqueous media.

José H. Zagal

is Distinguished Professor at the Faculty of Chemistry and Biology of the University of Santiago de Chile, where he directs the Laboratory of Electrocatalysis since 1982. He obtained his Ph.D. degree from Case Western Reserve University in 1978 and was postdoctoral fellow at Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, New York. His main research efforts are focused on the fundamentals of electron transfer reactions that are relevant for energy conversion and sensors. He has contributed to the definition of reactivity descriptors and volcano correlations for non-precious metal catalysts for electrochemical reactions. He received the Presidential Chair in Science in 1996 and is a Fellow of the International Society of Electrochemistry and of the Electrochemical Society.

Stefania Specchia

chemical engineer, is a full professor of Chemical Plants Design at the Politecnico di Torino, and an associate researcher at the CNR-ITAE “Nicola Giordano” (Italy). She is a member of the Committee Board of the International Academy of Electrochemical Energy Science (IAOEES). Leader of the Gre.En² Group (Green Energy and Engineering Group), her technical expertise areas are catalytic reaction engineering, electrochemistry, heterogeneous catalysis and electrocatalysis. Her work has resulted in the development of a wide range of catalysts and electrocatalysts for PEMFC/DMFC, methane combustion and gas sensing. She also works on transition technologies for low- or zero-emission energy recovery systems for hydrogen production and waste valorization.

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Abstract

Biomass is a low-cost, abundant and renewable resource that can be used to manufacture porous carbon-based materials for a variety of applications. Different mesoporous carbon supports can be obtained from the various synthetic approaches that are aimed at increasing the specific surface area and functionalization. Currently, most of the biomass is used for energy recovery. The circular economy approach could lead to the development of cheap and sustainable materials, and turning of wastes into a precious resource. In this review, we provide the recent advances in the field of electrochemistry for porous carbon materials derived from biomass, which offers wider applications in proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs), anion exchange membrane fuel cells (AEMFCs) and Zn-air batteries (ZABs). The focus is on understanding the required properties of the materials and the role of synthetic pathways in platinum group metal (PGM) free electrocatalysts. The most promising materials are evaluated towards the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) in PEMFC, AEMFC, and ZAB. The results achieved showed that the expected performances on these energy conversion devices still lack for deployment in practice, especially if compared with commercially available PGM-free electrocatalysts. This review article provides insights on how to improve the actual electrocatalytic activity of biomass-derived materials.

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Stefano Zago, Laura C. Scarpetta-Pizo, José H. Zagal, Stefania Specchia. PGM-Free Biomass-Derived Electrocatalysts for Oxygen Reduction in Energy Conversion Devices: Promising Materials. Electrochemical Energy Reviews, 2024, 7(1): DOI:10.1007/s41918-023-00197-3