Renewable energy is highly fascinating due to the essential power demand, continuous increase in oil costs and environmental concerns. Among the various renewable energy sources, the fuel cell is more appealing because of the higher efficiency and cost-effective power source. The critical problem in the wide-range commercial application of polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell is the use of platinum dependent electrocatalyst, which is mandatory for the oxygen reduction reaction. The improvement of catalytic activity, stability and low cost are the key issues to be resolved in this developing research area. So, the current review is focused on the advancement in single atom-based electrocatalyst and emphasized the various kinds of single-atom catalysts with improved catalytic performance. Future perspectives and direction are also proposed in this review for the improvement in the design strategy and development of highly efficient electrocatalyst for polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells.

由于必不可少的电力需求，石油成本的持续增长以及对环境的关注，可再生能源非常引人入胜。在各种可再生能源中，燃料电池由于具有更高的效率和成本效益的动力源而更具吸引力。聚合物电解质膜燃料电池的广泛商业应用中的关键问题是铂依赖性电催化剂的使用，这对于氧还原反应是必不可少的。催化活性的提高，稳定性和低成本是该发展中研究领域要解决的关键问题。因此，当前的综述集中在单原子基电催化剂的发展上，并强调了具有改善的催化性能的各种单原子催化剂。