Constructing Symmetry-Mismatched Ru_xFe_3–xO₄ Heterointerface-Supported Ru Clusters for Efficient Hydrogen Evolution and Oxidation Reactions

Abstract

Ru-related catalysts have shown excellent performance for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and hydrogen oxidation reaction (HOR); however, a deep understanding of Ruactive sites on a nanoscale heterogeneous support for hydrogen catalysis is still lacking. Herein, a click chemistry strategy is proposed to design Ru cluster-decorated nanometer Ru x Fe 3−x O 4 heterointerfaces (Ru/Ru x Fe 3−x O 4 ) as highly effective bifunctional hydrogen catalysts. It is found that introducing Ru into nanometric Fe 3 O 4 species breaks the symmetry configuration and optimizes the active site in Ru/Ru x Fe 3−x O 4 for HER and HOR. As expected, the catalyst displays prominent alkaline HER and HOR performance with mass activity much higher than that of commercial Pt/C as well as robust stability during catalysis because of the strong interaction between the Ru cluster and the Ru x Fe 3−x O 4 support, and the optimized adsorption intermediate (H ad and OH ad ). This work sheds light on a promsing approach to improving the electrocatalysis performance of catalysts by the breaking of atomic dimension symmetry.

Electronic metal–support interaction via Ni defect-induced Ru-modified Ni–CeO2 for enhanced hydrogen oxidation activity

“…The peaks situated around 465.9 and 488.2 eV are attributed to the 3p 3/2 and 3p 1/2 orbitals of RuO 2 , which aligns with the literature reports. 25 Notably, the binding energy of Ru species in Ru/Ni–CeO 2 was lower than that in Ru/CeO 2 , indicating electronic interaction between Ru and Ni–CeO 2 . 14 In Fig.…”