Roles of activated carbon in fuel cells: A critical review

Document Type

Review

Publication Date

1-21-2026

Abstract

Fuel cells are widely recognized as a promising clean energy technology due to their high efficiency, low emissions, and potential integration within future sustainable energy systems. However, their widespread commercialization remains hindered by the high cost and limited scalability of main components, particularly platinum-based catalysts, advanced gas diffusion layers, and polymer electrolyte membranes. Despite extensive progress, conventional carbon materials offer limited multifunctionality across these components, highlighting a critical gap in cost-effective and durable material design. This review addresses this gap by focusing on activated carbon (AC) as a sustainable and multifunctional material platform for fuel cells. It critically analyzes the correlations between AC synthesis routes, structural characteristics, and electrochemical behavior that influences the performance in electrodes, gas diffusion layers, and polymer electrolyte membranes. Recent advances including heteroatom doping, hybrid carbon composites, and engineered biochar are systematically discussed to clarify the mechanisms that enhance conductivity, mass transport, and interfacial stability. The review uniquely integrates circular economy and sustainability perspectives, emphasizing biomass valorization and waste-to-carbon strategies. Overall, this work provides a concise and progressive assessment the potential of AC to advance next-generation, low-cost, and environmentally responsible fuel cell technologies aligned with global decarbonization goals, SDG 7 (Affordable and Clean Energy) and SDG 12 (Responsible Consumption and Production).

Publication Title

International Journal of Hydrogen Energy

ISSN

03603199

DOI

10.1016/j.ijhydene.2025.153069

Volume

202

Link to Full Text

Share

COinS