Iron Single-Atom Catalysts Outperform Platinum for Fuel Cell Technology

Researchers have come up with a smart and scalable way to create iron single-atom catalysts (Fe SACs), which they’ve successfully anchored onto N,O-doped carbon nanospheres. And it’s a pretty big deal. These new Fe-N-CNS catalysts reached a half-wave potential of 0.85 V, delivered a remarkable 20 μmol g–1 of accessible FeN4 sites, and cranked out an impressive 190.5 mW cm–2 in power density.

That performance actually puts them ahead of the more expensive and widely used platinum-based catalysts—especially when it comes to real-world anion exchange membrane fuel cell (AEMFC) conditions.

Big win for fuel cell technology and cost savings

Why is this exciting? Well, it chips away at one of the biggest hurdles in fuel cell technology: the high cost and limited supply of platinum group metals. By sidestepping that roadblock, this innovation could pave the way for cheaper and more accessible hydrogen production systems.

The trick? They used a hard-template SiO2 approach to create a catalyst that’s not just efficient, but also more uniform and durable. This kind of reliability is crucial if we want fuel cells to show up outside the lab—in commercial vehicles, industrial tech, and homes.

Boosting a broader shift to sustainable energy

These findings don’t just stop at AEMFCs. They open the door to better performance across a bunch of other clean energy devices, like direct methanol fuel cells, electrolyzers, and zinc-air batteries.

All in all, this progress adds another piece to the puzzle in the journey toward smarter, more efficient sustainable energy systems. And with every step forward, we inch closer to scaling clean technology that’s actually affordable and built for the long haul.

Published in ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering,