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Zhou C, Shi J, Dong Z, Zeng L, Chen Y, Han Y, Li L, Zhang W, Zhang Q, Gu L, Lv F, Luo M, Guo S. Oxophilic gallium single atoms bridged ruthenium clusters for practical anion-exchange membrane electrolyzer. Nat Commun 2024; 15:6741. [PMID: 39112466 PMCID: PMC11306551 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-51200-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/29/2024] [Accepted: 07/30/2024] [Indexed: 08/10/2024] Open
Abstract
The development of highly efficient and durable alkaline hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) catalysts is crucial for achieving high-performance practical anion exchange membrane water electrolyzer (AEMWE) at ampere-level current density. Herein, we report a design concept by employing Ga single atoms as an electronic bridge to stabilize the Ru clusters for boosting alkaline HER performance in practical AEMWE. Experimental and theoretical results collectively reveal that the bridged Ga sites trigger strong metal-support interaction for the homogeneous distribution of Ru clusters with high density, as well as optimize the Ru-H bond strength due to the electron transfer between Ru and Ga for enhanced intrinsic HER activity. Moreover, the oxophilic Ga sites near the Ru clusters tend to adsorb the hydroxyl species and accelerate the water dissociation for sufficient proton supplement in an alkaline medium. The Ru-GaSA/N-C catalyst exhibits a low overpotential of 4 ± 1 mV (10 mA cm-2) and high mass activity of 9.3 ± 0.5 A mg-1Ru at -0.05 V vs RHE. In particular, the Ru-GaSA/N-C-based AEMWE in 1 M KOH delivers a voltage of only 1.74 V to reach an industrial current density of 1 A cm-2, and can steadily operate at 1 A cm-2 for more than 170 h.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chenhui Zhou
- School of Materials Science and Engineering, Peking University, Beijing, China
| | - Jia Shi
- Department of Physics, University of Central Florida, Orlando, FL, USA
| | - Zhaoqi Dong
- School of Materials Science and Engineering, Peking University, Beijing, China
| | - Lingyou Zeng
- School of Materials Science and Engineering, Peking University, Beijing, China
| | - Yan Chen
- School of Materials Science and Engineering, Peking University, Beijing, China
| | - Ying Han
- School of Materials Science and Engineering, Peking University, Beijing, China
| | - Lu Li
- School of Materials Science and Engineering, Peking University, Beijing, China
| | | | - Qinghua Zhang
- Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Lin Gu
- Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Fan Lv
- School of Materials Science and Engineering, Peking University, Beijing, China
| | - Mingchuan Luo
- School of Materials Science and Engineering, Peking University, Beijing, China
| | - Shaojun Guo
- School of Materials Science and Engineering, Peking University, Beijing, China.
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2
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Cui Z, Ren Z, Ma C, Chen B, Chen G, Lu R, Zhu W, Gan T, Wang Z, Zhuang Z, Han Y. Dilute RuCo Alloy Synergizing Single Ru and Co Atoms as Efficient and CO-Resistant Anode Catalyst for Anion Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells. Angew Chem Int Ed Engl 2024; 63:e202404761. [PMID: 38664844 DOI: 10.1002/anie.202404761] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/08/2024] [Indexed: 06/05/2024]
Abstract
Ruthenium (Ru) is considered a promising candidate catalyst for alkaline hydroxide oxidation reaction (HOR) due to its hydrogen binding energy (HBE) like that of platinum (Pt) and its much higher oxygenophilicity than that of Pt. However, Ru still suffers from insufficient intrinsic activity and CO resistance, which hinders its widespread use in anion exchange membrane fuel cells (AEMFCs). Here, we report a hybrid catalyst (RuCo)NC+SAs/N-CNT consisting of dilute RuCo alloy nanoparticles and atomically single Ru and Co atoms on N-doped carbon nanotubes The catalyst exhibits a state-of-the-art activity with a high mass activity of 7.35 A mgRu -1. More importantly, when (RuCo)NC+SAs/N-CNT is used as an anode catalyst for AEMFCs, its peak power density reaches 1.98 W cm-2, which is one of the best AEMFCs properties of noble metal-based catalysts at present. Moreover, (RuCo)NC+SAs/N-CNT has superior long-time stability and CO resistance. The experimental and density functional theory (DFT) results demonstrate that the dilute alloying and monodecentralization of the exotic element Co greatly modulates the electronic structure of the host element Ru, thus optimizing the adsorption of H and OH and promoting the oxidation of CO on the catalyst surface, and then stimulates alkaline HOR activity and CO tolerance of the catalyst.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhibo Cui
- Institute of Flexible Electronics (IFE), Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi'an, 710072, China
| | - Zhanghao Ren
- School of Chemical Sciences, The University of Auckland, Auckland, 1010, New Zealand
| | - Chao Ma
- Department of Chemistry, Tsinghua University, Beijing, 100084, China
| | - Bowen Chen
- State Key Lab of Organic-Inorganic Composites, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing, 100029, China
| | - Guanzhen Chen
- Institute of Flexible Electronics (IFE), Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi'an, 710072, China
| | - Ruihu Lu
- School of Chemical Sciences, The University of Auckland, Auckland, 1010, New Zealand
| | - Wei Zhu
- State Key Lab of Organic-Inorganic Composites, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing, 100029, China
| | - Tao Gan
- Shanghai Synchrotron Radiation Facilities, Shanghai institute of Applied Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, 201204, China
| | - Ziyun Wang
- School of Chemical Sciences, The University of Auckland, Auckland, 1010, New Zealand
| | - Zhongbin Zhuang
- State Key Lab of Organic-Inorganic Composites, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing, 100029, China
| | - Yunhu Han
- Institute of Flexible Electronics (IFE), Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi'an, 710072, China
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Wu Z, Bai S, Shen T, Liu G, Song Z, Hu Y, Sun X, Zheng L, Song YF. Ultrathin NiV Layered Double Hydroxide for Methanol Electrooxidation: Understanding the Proton Detachment Kinetics and Methanol Dehydrogenation Oxidation. SMALL (WEINHEIM AN DER BERGSTRASSE, GERMANY) 2024; 20:e2307975. [PMID: 38098446 DOI: 10.1002/smll.202307975] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/12/2023] [Revised: 11/21/2023] [Indexed: 05/12/2024]
Abstract
Electrochemical methanol oxidation reaction (MOR) is regarded as a promising pathway to obtain value-added chemicals and drive cathodic H2 production, while the rational design of catalyst and in-depth understanding of the structure-activity relationship remains challenging. Herein, the ultrathin NiV-LDH (u-NiV-LDH) with abundant defects is successfully synthesized, and the defect-enriched structure is finely determined by X-ray adsorption fine structure etc. When applied for MOR, the as-prepared u-NiV-LDH presents a low potential of 1.41 V versus RHE at 100 mA cm-2, which is much lower than that of bulk NiV-LDH (1.75 V vs RHE) at the same current density. The yield of H2 and formate is 98.2% and 88.1% as its initial over five cycles and the ultrathin structure of u-NiV-LDH can be well maintained. Various operando experiments and theoretical calculations prove that the few-layer stacking structure makes u-NiV-LDH free from the interlayer hydrogen diffusion process and the hydrogen can be directly detached from LDH laminate. Moreover, the abundant surface defects upshift the d-band center of u-NiV-LDH and endow a higher local methanol concentration, resulting in an accelerated dehydrogenation kinetics on u-NiV-LDH. The synergy of the proton detachment from the laminate and the methanol dehydrogenation oxidation contributes to the excellent MOR performance of u-NiV-LDH.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhaohui Wu
- State Key Laboratory of Chemical Resource Engineering, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing, 100029, P. R. China
| | - Sha Bai
- State Key Laboratory of Chemical Resource Engineering, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing, 100029, P. R. China
| | - Tianyang Shen
- State Key Laboratory of Chemical Resource Engineering, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing, 100029, P. R. China
| | - Guihao Liu
- State Key Laboratory of Chemical Resource Engineering, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing, 100029, P. R. China
| | - Ziheng Song
- State Key Laboratory of Chemical Resource Engineering, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing, 100029, P. R. China
| | - Yihang Hu
- State Key Laboratory of Chemical Resource Engineering, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing, 100029, P. R. China
| | - Xiaoliang Sun
- State Key Laboratory of Chemical Resource Engineering, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing, 100029, P. R. China
| | - Lirong Zheng
- Beijing Synchrotron Radiation Facility, Institute of High Energy Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, P. R. China
| | - Yu-Fei Song
- State Key Laboratory of Chemical Resource Engineering, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing, 100029, P. R. China
- Quzhou Institute for Innovation in Resource Chemical Engineering, Quzhou, Zhejiang, 324000, P. R. China
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Lu L, Wu X. Heteronuclear Dual Metal Atom Electrocatalysts for Water-Splitting Reactions. Molecules 2024; 29:1812. [PMID: 38675632 PMCID: PMC11055143 DOI: 10.3390/molecules29081812] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/21/2024] [Revised: 04/06/2024] [Accepted: 04/11/2024] [Indexed: 04/28/2024] Open
Abstract
Hydrogen is considered a promising substitute for traditional fossil fuels because of its widespread sources, high calorific value of combustion, and zero carbon emissions. Electrocatalytic water-splitting to produce hydrogen is also deemed to be an ideal approach; however, it is a challenge to make highly efficient and low-cost electrocatalysts. Single-atom catalysts (SACs) are considered the most promising candidate to replace traditional noble metal catalysts. Compared with SACs, dual-atom catalysts (DACs) are capable of greater attraction, including higher metal loading, more versatile active sites, and excellent catalytic activity. In this review, several general synthetic strategies and structural characterization methods of DACs are introduced, and recent experimental advances in water-splitting reactions are discussed. The authors hope that this review provides insights and inspiration to researchers regarding DACs in electrocatalytic water-splitting.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lu Lu
- Paris Curie Engineer School, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing 100029, China
| | - Xingcai Wu
- Key Laboratory of Mesoscopic Chemistry of MOE, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, China
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Li X, Long SH, Zhang XF, Huang WJ, Du ZY, Lu YB, Cao LM, He CT. Remodeling the Electronic Structure of Metallic Nickel and Ruthenium via Alloying in a Molecular Template for Sustainable Hydrogen Evolution. Inorg Chem 2024; 63:5761-5768. [PMID: 38485515 DOI: 10.1021/acs.inorgchem.4c00540] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 03/26/2024]
Abstract
The reasonably constructed high-performance electrocatalyst is crucial to achieve sustainable electrocatalytic water splitting. Alloying is a prospective approach to effectively boost the activity of metal electrocatalysts. However, it is a difficult subject for the controllable synthesis of small alloying nanostructures with high dispersion and robustness, preventing further application of alloy catalysts. Herein, we propose a well-defined molecular template to fabricate a highly dispersed NiRu alloy with ultrasmall size. The catalyst presents superior alkaline hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) performance featuring an overpotential as low as 20.6 ± 0.9 mV at 10 mA·cm-2. Particularly, it can work steadily for long periods of time at industrial-grade current densities of 0.5 and 1.0 A·cm-2 merely demanding low overpotentials of 65.7 ± 2.1 and 127.3 ± 4.3 mV, respectively. Spectral experiments and theoretical calculations revealed that alloying can change the d-band center of both Ni and Ru by remodeling the electron distribution and then optimizing the adsorption of intermediates to decrease the water dissociation energy barrier. Our research not only demonstrates the tremendous potential of molecular templates in architecting highly active ultrafine nanoalloy but also deepens the understanding of water electrolysis mechanism on alloy catalysts.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xuan Li
- Key Lab of Fluorine and Silicon for Energy Materials and Chemistry of Ministry of Education, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Jiangxi Normal University, Nanchang 330022, China
| | - Shui-Hong Long
- Jiangxi Key Laboratory of Function of Materials Chemistry, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Gannan Normal University, Ganzhou 341000, China
| | - Xue-Feng Zhang
- Key Lab of Fluorine and Silicon for Energy Materials and Chemistry of Ministry of Education, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Jiangxi Normal University, Nanchang 330022, China
| | - Wen-Juan Huang
- Key Lab of Fluorine and Silicon for Energy Materials and Chemistry of Ministry of Education, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Jiangxi Normal University, Nanchang 330022, China
| | - Zi-Yi Du
- Key Lab of Fluorine and Silicon for Energy Materials and Chemistry of Ministry of Education, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Jiangxi Normal University, Nanchang 330022, China
| | - Ying-Bing Lu
- Jiangxi Key Laboratory of Function of Materials Chemistry, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Gannan Normal University, Ganzhou 341000, China
| | - Li-Ming Cao
- Key Lab of Fluorine and Silicon for Energy Materials and Chemistry of Ministry of Education, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Jiangxi Normal University, Nanchang 330022, China
| | - Chun-Ting He
- Key Lab of Fluorine and Silicon for Energy Materials and Chemistry of Ministry of Education, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Jiangxi Normal University, Nanchang 330022, China
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Lin X, Hu W, Xu J, Liu X, Jiang W, Ma X, He D, Wang Z, Li W, Yang LM, Zhou H, Wu Y. Alleviating OH Blockage on the Catalyst Surface by the Puncture Effect of Single-Atom Sites to Boost Alkaline Water Electrolysis. J Am Chem Soc 2024; 146:4883-4891. [PMID: 38326284 DOI: 10.1021/jacs.3c13676] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/09/2024]
Abstract
Nonprecious transition metal catalysts have emerged as the preferred choice for industrial alkaline water electrolysis due to their cost-effectiveness. However, their overstrong binding energy to adsorbed OH often results in the blockage of active sites, particularly in the cathodic hydrogen evolution reaction. Herein, we found that single-atom sites exhibit a puncture effect to effectively alleviate OH blockades, thereby significantly enhancing the alkaline hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) performance. Typically, after anchoring single Ru atoms onto tungsten carbides, the overpotential at 10 mA·cm-2 is reduced by more than 130 mV (159 vs 21 mV). Also, the mass activity is increased 16-fold over commercial Pt/C (MA100 = 17.3 A·mgRu-1 vs 1.1 A·mgPt-1, Pt/C). More importantly, such electrocatalyst-based alkaline anion-exchange membrane water electrolyzers can exhibit an ultralow potential (1.79 Vcell) and high stability at an industrial current density of 1.0 A·cm-2. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations reveal that the isolated Ru sites could weaken the surrounding local OH binding energy, thus puncturing OH blockage and constructing bifunctional interfaces between Ru atoms and the support to accelerate water dissociation. Our findings exhibit generality to other transition metal catalysts (such as Mo) and contribute to the advancement of industrial-scale alkaline water electrolysis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xingen Lin
- Department of Endocrinology, Institute of Endocrine and Metabolic Diseases, The First Affiliated Hospital of USTC, Division of Life Sciences and Medicine, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui 230001, China
| | - Wenfeng Hu
- Key Laboratory of Material Chemistry for Energy Conversion and Storage, Ministry of Education; Hubei Key Laboratory of Bioinorganic Chemistry and Materia Medica; Hubei Key Laboratory of Materials Chemistry and Service Failure; Hubei Engineering Research Center for Biomaterials and Medical Protective Materials; School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074, China
| | - Jie Xu
- College of Chemistry and Materials Engineering, Wenzhou University, Wenzhou, Zhejiang 325035, China
| | - Xiaokang Liu
- National Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230026, China
| | - Wei Jiang
- National Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230026, China
| | - Xianhui Ma
- Department of Endocrinology, Institute of Endocrine and Metabolic Diseases, The First Affiliated Hospital of USTC, Division of Life Sciences and Medicine, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui 230001, China
| | - Dayin He
- Department of Endocrinology, Institute of Endocrine and Metabolic Diseases, The First Affiliated Hospital of USTC, Division of Life Sciences and Medicine, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui 230001, China
| | - Zihan Wang
- Department of Endocrinology, Institute of Endocrine and Metabolic Diseases, The First Affiliated Hospital of USTC, Division of Life Sciences and Medicine, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui 230001, China
| | - Wanqing Li
- Department of Endocrinology, Institute of Endocrine and Metabolic Diseases, The First Affiliated Hospital of USTC, Division of Life Sciences and Medicine, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui 230001, China
| | - Li-Ming Yang
- Key Laboratory of Material Chemistry for Energy Conversion and Storage, Ministry of Education; Hubei Key Laboratory of Bioinorganic Chemistry and Materia Medica; Hubei Key Laboratory of Materials Chemistry and Service Failure; Hubei Engineering Research Center for Biomaterials and Medical Protective Materials; School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074, China
| | - Huang Zhou
- Department of Endocrinology, Institute of Endocrine and Metabolic Diseases, The First Affiliated Hospital of USTC, Division of Life Sciences and Medicine, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui 230001, China
| | - Yuen Wu
- Department of Endocrinology, Institute of Endocrine and Metabolic Diseases, The First Affiliated Hospital of USTC, Division of Life Sciences and Medicine, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui 230001, China
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Peng SS, Zhang GS, Shao XB, Song XR, Qi SC, Tan P, Liu XQ, Yan J, Sun LB. Stable Mg Single-Atom Solid Base Catalysts Anchored on Metal-Organic Framework-Derived Nitrogen-Doped Carbon. Inorg Chem 2024; 63:1607-1612. [PMID: 38194295 DOI: 10.1021/acs.inorgchem.3c03566] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/10/2024]
Abstract
Solid base catalysts are widely used in the chemical industry owing to their advantages of environmental friendliness and easy separation. However, their application is limited by basic site aggregation and poor stability. In this study, we report the preparation of magnesium (Mg) single-atom catalysts with high activity and stability by a sublimation-trapping strategy. The Mg net was sublimated as Mg vapor at 620 °C, subsequently transported through argon, and finally trapped on the defects of nitrogen-doped carbon derived from metal-organic framework ZIF-8, producing Mg1/NC. Because of the atomically dispersed Mg sites, the obtained Mg1/NC exhibits high catalytic activity and stability for Knoevenagel condensation of benzaldehyde with malononitrile, which is a typical base-catalyzed reaction. The Mg1/NC catalyst achieves a high efficiency with a turnover frequency of 49.6 h-1, which is much better than that of the traditional counterpart MgO/NC (7.7 h-1). In particular, the activity of Mg1/NC shows no decrease after five catalytic cycles, while that of MgO/NC declines due to the instability of basic sites.
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Affiliation(s)
- Song-Song Peng
- State Key Laboratory of Materials-Oriented Chemical Engineering, Jiangsu National Synergetic Innovation Center for Advanced Materials (SICAM), College of Chemical Engineering, Nanjing Tech University, 30 South Puzhu Road, Nanjing 211816, China
| | - Guo-Song Zhang
- State Key Laboratory of Materials-Oriented Chemical Engineering, Jiangsu National Synergetic Innovation Center for Advanced Materials (SICAM), College of Chemical Engineering, Nanjing Tech University, 30 South Puzhu Road, Nanjing 211816, China
| | - Xiang-Bin Shao
- State Key Laboratory of Materials-Oriented Chemical Engineering, Jiangsu National Synergetic Innovation Center for Advanced Materials (SICAM), College of Chemical Engineering, Nanjing Tech University, 30 South Puzhu Road, Nanjing 211816, China
| | - Xing-Ru Song
- State Key Laboratory of Materials-Oriented Chemical Engineering, Jiangsu National Synergetic Innovation Center for Advanced Materials (SICAM), College of Chemical Engineering, Nanjing Tech University, 30 South Puzhu Road, Nanjing 211816, China
| | - Shi-Chao Qi
- State Key Laboratory of Materials-Oriented Chemical Engineering, Jiangsu National Synergetic Innovation Center for Advanced Materials (SICAM), College of Chemical Engineering, Nanjing Tech University, 30 South Puzhu Road, Nanjing 211816, China
| | - Peng Tan
- State Key Laboratory of Materials-Oriented Chemical Engineering, Jiangsu National Synergetic Innovation Center for Advanced Materials (SICAM), College of Chemical Engineering, Nanjing Tech University, 30 South Puzhu Road, Nanjing 211816, China
| | - Xiao-Qin Liu
- State Key Laboratory of Materials-Oriented Chemical Engineering, Jiangsu National Synergetic Innovation Center for Advanced Materials (SICAM), College of Chemical Engineering, Nanjing Tech University, 30 South Puzhu Road, Nanjing 211816, China
| | - Juntao Yan
- College of Chemistry and Environmental Engineering, Wuhan Polytechnic University, Wuhan 430023, China
| | - Lin-Bing Sun
- State Key Laboratory of Materials-Oriented Chemical Engineering, Jiangsu National Synergetic Innovation Center for Advanced Materials (SICAM), College of Chemical Engineering, Nanjing Tech University, 30 South Puzhu Road, Nanjing 211816, China
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Zhang H, Qi S, Zhu K, Zong X. Ruthenium nanoclusters modified by zinc species towards enhanced electrochemical hydrogen evolution reaction. Front Chem 2023; 11:1189450. [PMID: 37090245 PMCID: PMC10115985 DOI: 10.3389/fchem.2023.1189450] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/19/2023] [Accepted: 03/29/2023] [Indexed: 04/08/2023] Open
Abstract
Ruthenium (Ru) has been considered a promising electrocatalyst for electrochemical hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) while its performance is limited due to the problems of particle aggregation and competitive adsorption of the reaction intermediates. Herein, we reported the synthesis of a zinc (Zn) modified Ru nanocluster electrocatalyst anchored on multiwalled carbon nanotubes (Ru-Zn/MWCNTs). The Ru-Zn catalysts were found to be highly dispersed on the MWCNTs substrate. Moreover, the Ru-Zn/MWCNTs exhibited low overpotentials of 26 and 119 mV for achieving current intensities of 10 and 100 mA cm−2 under alkaline conditions, respectively, surpassing Ru/MWCNTs with the same Ru loading and the commercial 5 wt% Pt/C (47 and 270 mV). Moreover, the Ru-Zn/MWCNTs showed greatly enhanced stability compared to Ru/MWCNTs with no significant decay after 10,000 cycles of CV sweeps and long-term operation for 90 h. The incorporation of Zn species was found to modify the electronic structure of the Ru active species and thus modulate the adsorption energy of the Had and OHad intermediates, which could be the main reason for the enhanced HER performance. This study provides a strategy to develop efficient and stable electrocatalysts towards the clean energy conversion field.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | - Xu Zong
- *Correspondence: Kaixin Zhu, ; Xu Zong,
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