Bouscarrat, L. and Gupta, G. and Dawson, R. and Bimbo, N. (2026) Urea-treated Ti3C2Tz MXene for improved oxygen reduction reaction in alkaline fuel cells. International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, 238: 155271. ISSN 0360-3199
Full text not available from this repository.Abstract
Commercial fuel cell catalysts are usually based on platinum, which has cost and stability issues. Alkaline fuel cells are attractive, as alkaline media provides better oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) kinetics and allows for a wider range of materials to be used. MXenes have shown interesting properties in electrochemical applications, but they can suffer from drawbacks, including small surface areas in comparison with other catalyst supports. In this work, we use urea and thermal treatments to intercalate carbon and nitrogen species in Ti3C2Tz (where Tz stands for surface terminations), enlarging the interlayer spacing and increasing the materials’ surface area. The materials are tested for their ORR performance, and it is shown that the introduction of N–C species from the urea decomposition greatly increases the performance in comparison with bare Ti3C2. These materials can serve as more affordable alternatives to Pt/C, lowering the overall cost of fuel cells.