To address the problem of fuel starvation in fuel-cell electric vehicles, which causes cell voltage reversal and results in cell failure when repeated continuously, we developed a reversal-tolerant anode (RTA) to promote water oxidation in preference to carbon corrosion. Graphitized carbon-supported Ir–Ru alloys with different compositions are employed as RTA catalysts in an acidic polyol solution and are shown to exhibit composition-dependent average crystallite sizes of < 5.33 nm. The adopted approach allows the generation of relatively well-dispersed Ir–Ru alloy nanoparticles on the carbon support without severe agglomeration. The activity of IrRu₂/C for the hydrogen oxidation reaction is 1.10 times that of the state-of-the-art Pt/C catalyst. Cell reversal testing by simulation of fuel starvation reveals that the durability of IrRu₂/C (∼7 h) significantly exceeds that of the conventional Pt/C catalyst (∼10 min) and is the highest value reported so far. Thus, the developed Ir–Ru alloy catalyst can be used to fabricate practical RTAs and replace Pt catalysts in the anodes of polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells.

为了解决燃料电池电动汽车中的燃料匮乏问题，该问题会导致电池电压反转并在连续重复进行时导致电池故障，我们开发了一种耐反转阳极（RTA）来促进水的氧化，而不是碳腐蚀。具有不同组成的石墨化碳负载Ir-Ru合金在酸性多元醇溶液中用作RTA催化剂，显示出依赖于组成的平均微晶尺寸为<5.33 nm。采用的方法可以在碳载体上生成相对分散的Ir-Ru合金纳米粒子，而不会发生严重的团聚。IrRu ₂的活性氢氧化反应的/ C为最先进的Pt / C催化剂的1.10倍。通过模拟燃料匮乏进行的电池逆转测试显示，IrRu ₂ / C（〜7 h）的耐久性显着超过了常规Pt / C催化剂（〜10 min）的耐久性，是迄今为止报道的最高值。因此，开发的Ir-Ru合金催化剂可用于制造实用的RTAs，并替代聚合物电解质膜燃料电池阳极中的Pt催化剂。