Fuel cells, converting chemical energy from fuels into electricity directly without the need for combustion, are promising energy\nconversion devices for their potential applications as environmentally friendly, energy efficient power sources. However, to take\nfuel cell technology forward towards commercialization, we need to achieve further improvements in electrocatalyst technology,\nwhich can play an extremely important role in essentially determining cost-effectiveness, performance, and durability. In particular,\nplatinum- (Pt-) based electrocatalyst approaches have been extensively investigated and actively pursued to meet those demands\nas an ideal fuel cell catalyst due to their most outstanding activity for both cathode oxygen reduction reactions and anode fuel\noxidation reactions. In this review, we will address important issues and recent progress in the development of Pt-based catalysts,\ntheir synthesis, and characterization. We will also review snapshots of research that are focused on essential dynamics aspects of\nelectrocatalytic reactions, such as the shape effects on the catalytic activity of Pt-based nanostructures, the relationships between\nstructural morphology of Pt-based nanostructures and electrochemical reactions on both cathode and anode electrodes, and the\neffects of composition and electronic structure of Pt-based catalysts on electrochemical reaction properties of fuel cells.
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