Ultrafine Ru‐M Alloy@S Vacancy‐Rich MoS <sub>2</sub> Nanosheets With Bimetallic Active Sites for Efficient Hydrogen Evolution in Alkaline and Acidic Media

Developing efficient, scalable electrocatalysts for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) is crucial for industrial H<sub>2</sub> production. Herein, ultrafine (≈1.7 nm) ruthenium-cobalt (RuCo) alloys anchored on Sulfur-vacancy-rich 1T phase molybdenum disulfide (1T phase MoS<sub>2-x</sub>) nanosheets (denoted as Ru<sub>2</sub>Co<sub>1</sub>-4@E-MoS<sub>2-x</sub>) are synthesized via ultrasonic microreactor (USMR) technology. The USMR strategy concurrently achieves a reduced alloy size, accelerated Ru reduction kinetics, and improved metal dispersion, endowing the resulting catalysts with high metal loading and abundant accessible active sites. Experimental and theoretical analyses reveal that Co incorporation optimizes RuCo electronic structure and strengthens interfacial coupling with 1T phase MoS<sub>2-x</sub>, lowering the Gibbs free energy of H<sup>*</sup> adsorption (ΔG<sub>H*</sub>) on both Ru and Co sites. This synergistic interaction establishes bimetallic active centers that overcome the adsorption-desorption trade-off in single-metal systems. In situ Raman spectroscopy further confirms that Co promotes water dissociation and hydrogen desorption at Ru sites under alkaline conditions. Consequently, Ru<sub>2</sub>Co<sub>1</sub>-4@E-MoS<sub>2-x</sub> exhibits exceptional HER activity, achieving record-low overpotentials of 31 mV in acidic and 36 mV in alkaline media at 10 mA·cm<sup>-2</sup>, significantly outperforming 20 wt% Pt/C (45 and 53 mV, respectively). Moreover, the USMR approach is universal, generating highly active RuM@E-MoS<sub>2-x</sub> catalysts (M = Fe, Ni, Cu). This work establishes a novel "bimetallic active sites/engineered carrier" paradigm for advanced electrocatalytic water splitting.

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Journal
Advanced Science
Published
2025-11-28
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1002/advs.202519323
Primary Topic
Electrocatalysts for Energy Conversion
Type
article
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article

Ultrafine Ru‐M Alloy@S Vacancy‐Rich MoS 2 Nanosheets With Bimetallic Active Sites for Efficient Hydrogen Evolution in Alkaline and Acidic Media

Ge Jin, Xiaojing Zhu, Zhengya Dong, Zhilin Wu et al.
Advanced Science
Electrocatalysts for Energy Conversion
article

Ultrafine Ru‐M Alloy@S Vacancy‐Rich MoS 2 Nanosheets With Bimetallic Active Sites for Efficient Hydrogen Evolution in Alkaline and Acidic Media

Ge Jin, Xiaojing Zhu, Zhengya Dong, Zhilin Wu, Haolin Tang, Jinfu Jia, Xiaolin Liu, Jie Zhang, Yuan Liu, Rui Su, Xueying Yang, Ting Ding
article en

Abstract

Developing efficient, scalable electrocatalysts for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) is crucial for industrial H<sub>2</sub> production. Herein, ultrafine (≈1.7 nm) ruthenium-cobalt (RuCo) alloys anchored on Sulfur-vacancy-rich 1T phase molybdenum disulfide (1T phase MoS<sub>2-x</sub>) nanosheets (denoted as Ru<sub>2</sub>Co<sub>1</sub>-4@E-MoS<sub>2-x</sub>) are synthesized via ultrasonic microreactor (USMR) technology. The USMR strategy concurrently achieves a reduced alloy size, accelerated Ru reduction kinetics, and improved metal dispersion, endowing the resulting catalysts with high metal loading and abundant accessible active sites. Experimental and theoretical analyses reveal that Co incorporation optimizes RuCo electronic structure and strengthens interfacial coupling with 1T phase MoS<sub>2-x</sub>, lowering the Gibbs free energy of H<sup>*</sup> adsorption (ΔG<sub>H*</sub>) on both Ru and Co sites. This synergistic interaction establishes bimetallic active centers that overcome the adsorption-desorption trade-off in single-metal systems. In situ Raman spectroscopy further confirms that Co promotes water dissociation and hydrogen desorption at Ru sites under alkaline conditions. Consequently, Ru<sub>2</sub>Co<sub>1</sub>-4@E-MoS<sub>2-x</sub> exhibits exceptional HER activity, achieving record-low overpotentials of 31 mV in acidic and 36 mV in alkaline media at 10 mA·cm<sup>-2</sup>, significantly outperforming 20 wt% Pt/C (45 and 53 mV, respectively). Moreover, the USMR approach is universal, generating highly active RuM@E-MoS<sub>2-x</sub> catalysts (M = Fe, Ni, Cu). This work establishes a novel "bimetallic active sites/engineered carrier" paradigm for advanced electrocatalytic water splitting.

Advanced ScienceVol. 13(8)
Sun Yat-sen University (CN), South China Normal University (CN), Shantou University (CN), Ji Hua Laboratory (CN)
National Natural Science Foundation of China
Openalex Percentile: Top 73%
Electrocatalysts for Energy Conversion
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