Comparative techno-economic and life-cycle analysis of precious versus non-precious metal electrocatalysts: the case of PEM fuel cell cathodes
Sluggish kinetics in the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) require significant quantities of expensive Pt based nanoparticles on carbon (Pt/C) at the cathode of proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs). This catalyst requirement hinders their large-scale implementation. Single atom Fe in N-doped C (Fe–N– C) electrocatalysts offer the best non-Pt-based ORR activities to date, but their environmental impacts have not been studied and their production costs are rarely quantified. Herein, we report a comparative life-cycle assessment and techno-economic analysis of replacing Pt/C with Fe–N–C at the cathode of an 80 kW PEMFC stack. In the baseline scenario (20 gPt/C vs. 690more »