Core–shell Fe3O4@CoO NCs have been demonstrated to be efficient catalysts for ORR and OER. The specific core/shell interaction can be ascribed to the main reason leading to their high catalytic performance. The shell thickness has a great influence on the catalytic activities.
Developing acid‐stable electrocatalysts with high activity for the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) is of paramount importance for many energy‐related technologies. This work reports that ultrathin nitrogen‐doped carbon coated oxygen‐vacancy (Vo·) rich RuO2 nanoparticles on carbon nanotubes (CNTs) (NC@Vo·‐RuO2/CNTs‐350), synthesized through the controlled calcination in air, is an efficient acid‐stable electrocatalyst for the OER. It only needs an overpotential of 170.0 mV to drive 10.0 mA cm−2 and shows excellent stability with no distinguishable activity loss observed for >900 h. Its mass activity is >110 times higher than the commercial RuO2. In particular, an electrolyzer assembled with this catalyst shows a record‐low cell voltage of 1.45 V to deliver 10.0 mA cm−2 and exhibits a low performance drop for >1000 h. The NC@Vo·‐RuO2/CNTs‐350 also shows super‐high catalytic activities and excellent stabilities for OER in neutral and alkaline media. DFT calculations indicate that its high catalytic activity mainly arises from the strong electronic coupling between RuO2 and NC/CNTs, which increases the oxidation state and catalytic activity of Ru at the active site and improves the stabilities of lattice oxygen and surface Ru during the OER processes. The presence of Vo· can strengthen the electronic coupling between RuO2 and NC/CNTs.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.