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Fuel cells present an intriguing method of transforming stored chemical energy into electricity. In PEM fuel cells that operate near room temperature, kinetic limitations in the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) limit efficiencies. This study attempted to increase the ORR rate by replacing the platinum traditionally used to catalyze it at the cathode. Despite the high cost, platinum has had the lowest kinetic overpotential of any metal for the ORR, in addition to good conductivity and superior chemical/mechanical resistance. This study used a high-throughput method to investigate possible non-platinum ORR catalysts. Multiple elemental targets were simultaneously sputter deposited to produce thin film combinatorial spreads covering a range of elemental compositions. By including a fluorescent indicator dye into the testing solution, an optical sweep technique could determine local regions of high ORR activity. Such regions corresponded to unique compositions that were examined in further detail using cyclic voltammetry and a battery of other characterization steps. The ORR kinetics of palladium was increased through ligand and strain effect