A research team led by Professor Sang Uck Lee of the School of Chemical Engineering at Sungkyunkwan University, with Ph.D. candidate Jun Ho Seok as a co-first author and Dr. Sung Chan Cho, in collaboration with Professor Kwangyeol Lee’s team at Korea University and Dr. Sung Jong Yoo’s team at the Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST), has developed a next-generation platinum-based catalyst that improves both activity and durability in hydrogen fuel cells. The study was published online on January 6, 2026, in Advanced Materials.
Hydrogen fuel cells generate electricity through the electrochemical reaction of hydrogen and oxygen and are considered a promising clean energy technology. However, their broader commercialization has been hindered by the sluggish oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) at the cathode and by catalyst degradation during long-term operation.
Conventional platinum-based intermetallic catalysts are known for their structural stability, but their atomic composition and arrangement are difficult to tune precisely. This has limited efforts to optimize their electronic structure and has made it challenging to achieve both high catalytic activity and long-term durability under demanding operating conditions, such as those required for hydrogen-powered vehicles.
To address these challenges, the research team developed a new catalyst design strategy that enables more precise control over atomic composition and electronic structure while maintaining the structural stability of platinum-based intermetallic catalysts. Using this method, they designed a ternary intermetallic nanocatalyst made of platinum (Pt), cobalt (Co), and manganese (Mn). By utilizing oxygen vacancies formed at the interface between the catalyst and the oxide support, the team was able to guide atomic ordering within the catalyst and successfully develop a ternary Pt-based intermetallic structure that had previously been hard to achieve.
A key aspect of the study was the use of a new theoretical approach to uncover the interfacial synthesis mechanism at the precursor stage, which is difficult to observe directly in experiments. The team showed that oxygen vacancies formed early at the interface play a decisive role in driving the ordering of manganese atoms, providing a theoretical explanation for how the ternary intermetallic structure forms. This goes beyond conventional catalyst performance analysis by offering an atomic-level framework for understanding and designing the synthesis process itself.
The newly developed catalyst delivered both high ORR activity and outstanding durability through its optimized electronic structure. In electrochemical tests, it exhibited mass activity more than ten times higher than that of commercial Pt/C catalysts and retained more than 96% of its initial performance after 150,000 cycles of accelerated durability testing.
In membrane electrode assembly (MEA) tests, the catalyst exceeded the 2025 performance targets set by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). It also maintained higher power output than conventional catalysts under high-load operating conditions, highlighting its potential for use in hydrogen electric vehicles and stationary fuel cell systems.
Advanced Materials
Tailoring Interfacial Oxygen Vacancy-Mediated Ordering in Ternary Pt3(Co,Mn)1 Intermetallic Nanoparticles for Enhanced Oxygen Reduction Reaction
6-Jan-2026