THE PROJECT AIMS TO DEVELOP AND DELIVER HIGHLY DURABLE AND MANUFACTURABLE FUEL CELL MEAS WITH LOW-PGM NOVEL CATHODE CATALYST LOADING, ENHANCED MASS ACTIVITY AT HIGH OPERATIONAL POTENTIALS, IMPROVED HIGH CURRENT DENSITY PERFORMANCE, AND EXTENDED OPERATIONAL LONGEVITY AT A REDUCED COS. THE PROPOSED PROGRAM’S LEVEL OF PERFORMANCE WILL MEET THE M2FCT 2025 END-OF-LIFE MEA TARGET: DEMONSTRATION OF 2.5 KW/GPGM POWER OUTPUT (1.07 A/CM2 CURRENT DENSITY AT 0.7 V; 749 MW/CM2 AT 0.7 V) AFTER RUNNING A HEAVY-DUTY AST EQUIVALENT TO 25,000 HOURS. THE DEVELOPMENT OF COMMERCIALLY VIABLE PT-ALLOY CATALYSTS AND ANALYSIS TECHNIQUES FOR EVALUATING AND RANKING THEM AS PROPOSED HERE ARE BASED ON FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES AND DISCOVERIES THAT WERE CONCEIVED IN OUR LABORATORIES. MITIGATION OF DEGRADATION PROCESSES IS FEASIBLE ONLY BY MATERIALS DESIGN AT ATOMIC/MOLECULAR LEVEL, WHICH IS A SIGNATURE OF THIS PROJECT. TO ENHANCE THE PERFORMANCE AND DURABILITY OF THE CATHODE CATALYST TO MEET THE MEDIUM- AND HEAVY-DUTY TARGETS WE WILL AIM TO: (1) DRIVE NANOSCALE SURFACE STRUCTURES TO MIMIC THAT OF PT(111)-SKIN, (2) INDUCE ORDERING IN THE ALLOY TO LIMIT TM LOSS , (3) INTRODUCE AU TO ENABLE SELF-HEALING, (4) OPTIMIZE THE INTERFACE BETWEEN WATER, IONOMER, AND THE CATALYST WITH MOLECULAR INTERFACIAL ADDITIVES, (5) DEPLOY NANOPARTICLES ON ADVANCED CARBON SUPPORTS WITH SELECTIVE ANCHORS, AND (5) INTEGRATE NOVEL MATERIALS IN TO HIGHLY DURABLE MEAS. THE TECHNICAL INNOVATIONS PROPOSED HERE RELY ON CUTTING EDGE FUNDAMENTAL DISCOVERIES AT ATOMIC/MOLECULAR SCALE THAT WILL BE APPLIED TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF NOVEL CATALYSTS FOR HIGHLY DURABLE SELF-HEALING MEAS. THE OUTCOME WILL BE GROUNDBREAKING MEA PERFORMANCE WHICH WILL MEET OR EXCEED THE M2FCT AND DOE TECHNICAL TARGET. THE FINAL DELIVERABLE OF THE PROJECT WILL BE AT LEAST 6 MEAS FOR INDEPENDENT TESTING BY THE M2FCT CORE LAB CONSORTIUM. THE DELIVERED MEAS WILL MEET/EXCEED THE M2FCT 2025 END-OF-LIFE TARGET.