With the development of technologies in recent decades and the imposition of international standards to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, car manufacturers have turned their attention to new technologies related to electric/hybrid vehicles and electric fuel cell vehicles. This paper focuses on electric fuel cell vehicles, which optimally combine the fuel cell system with hybrid energy storage systems, represented by batteries and ultracapacitors, to meet the dynamic power demand required by the electric motor and auxiliary systems. This paper compares the latest proposed topologies for fuel cell electric vehicles and reveals the new technologies and DC/DC converters involved to generate up-to-date information for researchers and developers interested in this specialized field. From a software point of view, the latest energy management strategies are analyzed and compared with the reference strategies, taking into account performance indicators such as energy efficiency, hydrogen consumption and degradation of the subsystems involved, which is the main challenge for car developers. The advantages and disadvantages of three types of strategies (rule-based strategies, optimization-based strategies and learning-based strategies) are discussed. Thus, future software developers can focus on new control algorithms in the area of artificial intelligence developed to meet the challenges posed by new technologies for autonomous vehicles.

A facile and feasible protocol for synthesis of functionalized reduced graphene oxide decorated with gold nanoparticles (AuNP/rGO) in mild reaction conditions has been successfully developed. Starting from graphite, the following synthesis routes were developed: 1) preparation of graphite oxide; 2) graphene oxide (GO) functionalized with a compatible polymer; 3) reduced graphene oxide decorated with gold nanoparticles (final compound). The surface morphology of as-prepared AuNP/rGO was investigated using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and specific surface area was determined using BET method, while structural properties were investigated using Raman scattering spectroscopy, X-Ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). This comprehensive study demonstrated the simultaneous reduction of GO and the achievement of Au nanoparticles dispersed on graphene sheets. An ORR catalytic system containing prepared AuNP/rGO was developed, and electrochemical measurements were performed. Firstly, the ex-situ electrochemical performances of AuNP/rGO-modified carbon electrode were investigated using cyclic voltammetry. Secondly, the in-situ electrochemical evaluation were carried out as application in real PEM fuel cell and analyzed as comparison commercial Pt/C versus developed ORR catalytic system. The in-situ CV results showed that the oxidation and reduction peaks corresponding to hydrogen adsorption/desorption decreased differently, indicating that a decrease of electrochemical surface area occurs for both cases, more visible for commercial catalyst. The cathode made with AuNP/rGO developed in this work, tested in hydrogen-air PEMFC, had a power density of 0.59 W cm ^{− 2} at 0.6 V, a meaningful voltage for fuel cells operation, comparable with that of a commercial Pt-based cathode tested under identical conditions, but a superior electrochemical stability. The results confirmed that the developed AuNP/rGO nanoparticles could be valuable alternative ORR nanostructured electrodes.