Abstract

The interfacial electronic structure has a significant influence on the electrocatalytic activity and durability of metal oxide-supported ruthenium (Ru) electrocatalysts for the alkaline hydrogen oxidation reaction (HOR). Herein, we optimize the interfacial electronic structure by tuning the Ru–O bonds within MnO lattice-confined Ru electrocatalysts, creating efficient and stable sites for alkaline HOR. The formed Ru–O bonds generate localized interfacial electrons and a downshifted d-band center of interfacial Ru atoms, which results in optimal adsorption ability of H* and OH* together with the reduced energy barrier of H₂O formation. The mass activity achieves 1.26 mA μgRu^–1 in 0.1 M KOH, which is 13.0-fold and 8.0-fold higher than that of the contrast Ru/C (0.097 mA μgRu^–1) and commercial Pt/C (0.158 mA μgPt^–1), respectively, while also exhibiting favorable durability and CO tolerance. This work highlights the rational design of Ru–O bonds in optimizing the interfacial electronic structure to enhance the alkaline HOR activity.

Link to the article: https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.nanolett.4c06285