A one-step facile synthesis of fcc Ru-RuO activates superior bifunctionality toward overall alkaline water splitting

• Published in: Journal of materials chemistry. A, Materials for energy and sustainability Materials for energy and sustainability, 2024-10, Vol.12 (4), p.2754-27548
• Main Authors: Fan, Qianqian, Shao, Yueyue, Zhang, Longzhou, Zhou, Jia, Wang, Guigen
• Format: Article
• ISSN: 2050-7488; 2050-7496
• DOI: 10.1039/d4ta04967e

A simple synthesis of face-centered cubic (fcc) Ru and RuO 2 co-existing electrocatalysts for excellent overall water splitting through reasonable design and assembly protocols remains a formidable challenge. Herein, an fcc Ru-RuO 2 /C electrocatalyst was successfully synthesized by the wet impregnation method with the help of an alkaline solvent for the first time by one-step annealing. As expected, the overpotential of fcc Ru-RuO 2 /C at 10 mA cm −2 is 30 mV and 283 mV for the HER and OER, respectively, which is better than the 44 mV and 331 mV of commercial Pt/C and RuO 2 . Theoretical calculations reveal that the superior performance is mainly attributed to the synergistic effect of fcc Ru and RuO 2 nanoparticles in changing the electronic structure and making the adsorption behavior of reaction intermediates reach the desirable level, thus greatly accelerating the hydrogen evolution kinetics and reducing the energy barrier of oxygen evolution. This work not only highlights the importance of phase engineering, but also elucidates the necessity for obtaining bifunctional catalysts in which a metal and an oxide co-exist. An overall water splitting electrocatalyst with excellent properties was prepared, in which the co-existence of fcc Ru and RuO 2 was achieved for the first time. The utilization rate of Ru was also greatly improved.