Enriched Electrophilic Oxygen Species on Ru Optimize Acidic Water Oxidation
Ruthenium oxide (RuO<sub>2</sub>) is considered one of the most promising catalysts for replacing iridium oxide (IrO<sub>2</sub>) in the acidic oxygen evolution reaction (OER). Nevertheless, the performance of RuO<sub>2</sub> remains unacceptable due to the dissolution of Ru and the lack of *OH in acidic environments. This paper reports a grain boundary (GB)-rich porous RuO<sub>2</sub> electrocatalyst for the efficient and stable acidic OER. The involvement of GB regulates the valence state of Ru and weakens the interaction between Ru and O, effectively facilitating *OH adsorption and *OOH formation. Notably, achieved a record-high catalytic activity (145 mV at 10 mA cm<sup>-2</sup>) with a low Tafel slope (40.9 mV dec<sup>-1</sup>) and a remarkable mass activity of 332 mA mg<sup>-1</sup> <sub>Ru</sub> at 1.5 V versus reversible hydrogen electrode is achieved. Additionally, the porous RuO<sub>2</sub> exhibits superb stability with an ultra-low degradation rate of 26 µV h<sup>-1</sup> over a 50-day durability test. This study opens a viable pathway for the development of efficient and robust Ru-based acidic OER electrocatalysts.
Authors
- Genyan Hao
- Qiang Zhao (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7706-692X)
- Qiang Fang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5063-6889)
- Dazhong Zhong
- Jinping Li (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2628-0376)
- Guang Liu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9783-0523)
- Tao Zhao (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2828-6314)
- Runxin Du
Institutions
- Shanxi University (CN)
- Shanxi University of Traditional Chinese Medicine (CN)
- Taiyuan University of Technology (CN)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Small
- Published
- 2024-12-23
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1002/smll.202410311
- Citations
- 6
- Primary Topic
- Electrocatalysts for Energy Conversion
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.61
Funders
- National Natural Science Foundation of China