Boosting oxygen evolution of single-atomic ruthenium through electronic coupling with cobalt-iron layered double hydroxides

• Published in: Nature communications 2019-04, Vol.10 (1), p.1711-1711, Article 1711
• Main Authors: Li, Pengsong, Wang, Maoyu, Duan, Xinxuan, Zheng, Lirong, Cheng, Xiaopeng, Zhang, Yuefei, Kuang, Yun, Li, Yaping, Ma, Qing, Feng, Zhenxing, Liu, Wen, Sun, Xiaoming
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: 140/146; 147/135; 147/137; 147/143; 639/301/299/886; 639/4077/909; 639/638/263/915; 639/925/357; Absorption spectroscopy; Anchoring; Carbon neutrality; Catalysis; Cobalt; Coupling; Electrocatalysis; Humanities and Social Sciences; Hydroxides; INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY; Iron; multidisciplinary; Nanoscale materials; Oxidation; Oxygen; Oxygen evolution reactions; Renewable energy; Ruthenium; Science; Science (multidisciplinary); Selectivity; Single atom catalysts; Solid-state chemistry; Stability; X ray absorption; X-ray absorption spectroscopy
• ISSN: 2041-1723; 2041-1723
• DOI: 10.1038/s41467-019-09666-0

Single atom catalyst, which contains isolated metal atoms singly dispersed on supports, has great potential for achieving high activity and selectivity in hetero-catalysis and electrocatalysis. However, the activity and stability of single atoms and their interaction with support still remains a mystery. Here we show a stable single atomic ruthenium catalyst anchoring on the surface of cobalt iron layered double hydroxides, which possesses a strong electronic coupling between ruthenium and layered double hydroxides. With 0.45 wt.% ruthenium loading, the catalyst exhibits outstanding activity with overpotential 198 mV at the current density of 10 mA cm −2 and a small Tafel slope of 39 mV dec −1 for oxygen evolution reaction. By using operando X-ray absorption spectroscopy, it is disclosed that the isolated single atom ruthenium was kept under the oxidation states of 4+ even at high overpotential due to synergetic electron coupling, which endow exceptional electrocatalytic activity and stability simultaneously. While water splitting offers a carbon-neutral means to store energy, water oxidation is sluggish and corrosive over earth-abundant electrocatalysts. Here, authors show single ruthenium atoms over cobalt-iron layered double hydroxides to be effective and stable oxygen evolution electrocatalysts.