Today, hydrogen is a crucial component of Russia’s policy for transitioning to a carbon-neutral energy sector, as repeatedly stated by President Vladimir Putin. Hydrogen energy is outlined as a separate focus in Russia’s Energy Strategy, published on April 12, 2025, which is vital for maintaining the country’s technological sovereignty. One of the most well-known components of hydrogen energy is the hydrogen-air fuel cell, which can be used as a power source in transportation and portable devices. Scientists from Southern Federal University (SFedU), in collaboration with colleagues from Skoltech and the Institute of Catalysis of the RAS Siberian Branch, have taken a significant step forward by improving the catalysts that determine the efficiency of these systems.
At the heart of any hydrogen fuel cell is a catalyst that accelerates key chemical reactions. Platinum has traditionally been used for this — a highly effective but extremely expensive metal. However, Russian researchers have managed to find a solution to this problem: They have created a catalyst that outperforms traditional commercial products in stability and activity, thereby enabling a reduction in platinum content.
The secret lies in a special carbon substrate (“support”), “doped” with nitrogen. Researchers from SFedU’s Laboratory of Nanostructured Materials for Electrochemical Energy and Laboratory of Synthesis Technologies for Catalytically Active Materials created this substrate based on carbon, “adding” nitrogen atoms to it. The nitrogen helps to uniformly distribute and firmly hold the platinum nanoparticles, preventing them from “clumping together” and “failing,” while also leading to higher activity in the oxygen reduction reaction. This current-generating reaction is crucial for the operation of hydrogen-air fuel cells — efficient energy conversion devices for passenger transport, unmanned aerial systems, and portable charging units.
“Over the course of several studies, we have observed that nitrogen-doped supports enhance the activity of platinum nanoparticle-based catalysts. Furthermore, such materials also exhibit a longer service life. It is very important to understand why this happens, as these products are significant for practical applications. We employed a combination of electrochemical measurements and microscopic studies at SFedU’s High-Resolution Microscopy Shared Research Facility and at the Institute of Catalysis of the RAS Siberian Branch. We managed to identify a unique material structure that combines the presence of both 1-2 nm platinum nanoparticles and platinum atom clusters, uniformly distributed across the entire substrate surface. Thanks to our colleagues from Skoltech, we were able to theoretically explain all the observed effects,” notes Yulia Bayan, a PhD student and Junior Research Fellow at SFedU.
The success of this project is the result of a well-coordinated, interdisciplinary team effort. The foundation of the research was laid by staff from SFedU’s Laboratory of Nanostructured Materials for Electrochemical Energy, who synthesized the new materials. Specialists in high-precision microscopy from the Institute of Catalysis of the RAS Siberian Branch conducted additional studies of the material’s microstructure and “saw” its unique structure. Meanwhile, scientists from Skoltech used computational materials science methods to confirm that nitrogen atoms are the key to enhancing the electrocatalysts’ characteristics.
“From the experiments, it wasn’t entirely clear what caused such changes in the catalyst’s properties. A hypothesis was put forward that the small size of the platinum nanoparticles could be highly susceptible to the influence of the support material’s surface structure, leading to critical changes not only in the nanoparticles’ structure but also in their electronic properties. This hypothesis was tested through quantum chemical calculations. Thus, it was demonstrated that a significant redistribution of electron density on the surface of the platinum nanoparticles was caused by defects in the support’s structure, leading to substantial changes in the material’s adsorption and catalytic properties,” comments Skoltech Professor Alexander Kvashnin, Doctor of Sciences in Physics and Mathematics.
“The potential of this work is enormous! We are entering an era where we can literally ‘design’ a catalyst atom by atom, manipulating the structure of the support and nanoparticles to achieve unprecedented activity and stability. The fact that these breakthrough results are recognized internationally, with the paper published in the prestigious journal Small — ranked in the top 1.5% of leading global scientific publications in its field — speaks to their high quality. But in my opinion, the main conclusion is even more significant. This entire world-class research complex, from experiment to theory, was carried out exclusively by Russian scientific teams. This proves that a powerful base for cutting-edge research has already been established in the country, and we are capable of independently solving the most complex scientific and technological tasks, thereby ensuring our technological sovereignty,” notes Ilya Chepkasov, Senior Research Scientist at Skoltech, Candidate of Sciences in Physics and Mathematics.
The research results, published in the journal Small (Impact Factor=12), were obtained within a Russian Science Foundation project led by a young scientist (No. 24-79-10162).
“Support from the Russian Science Foundation is extremely important for us. Thanks to this support, we were able to focus on a complex and ambitious task — not just to create a new material, but to thoroughly understand the fundamental reasons for its efficiency. Through collaboration with colleagues from Skoltech, we managed to confirm the experimental results with theoretical calculations,” emphasizes the project’s Principal Investigator, Anastasia Alekseenko, a Senior Research Fellow and Candidate of Chemical Sciences.
The scientists’ next step is to test their catalyst in real fuel cell prototypes and to scale up its production.
