His research at Los Alamos has focused on electrocatalysis of oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) and methanol and dimethyl ether (DME) oxidation in PEFCs.

Among Dr. Zelenay’s many accomplishments in the area of fuel cell electrocatalysis, especially worth mentioning are (i) leading role in the development of non-precious metal ORR catalysts worldwide; (ii) the discovery of ruthenium crossover in the direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC; also found in other fuel cells operating with Ru-containing anodes, such as the reformate-air fuel cell); (iii) advancement of the direct DME fuel cell performance to the level that now matches that of the state-of-the-art DMFC. Dr. Piotr Zelenay has ca. 200 research publications to his credit, many in renowned scientific journals, including Nature, Science, Chemical Reviews, Accounts of Chemical Research, Angewandte Chemie, Energy & Environmental Science, and Advanced Materials. He has co-authored ca. 450 presentations, including ca. 200 invited, keynote, and plenary lectures.