Ru/Se‐RuO₂ Composites via Controlled Selenization Strategy for Enhanced Acidic Oxygen Evolution

Abstract

The introduction of electronegative non-metallic heterostructures is promisingly desired to develop Ru-based oxide catalysts, which have higher activity and robust stability for acidic oxygen evolution reaction (OER). Developing scalable synthetic strategies and enlightening the mechanism understanding of the enhancement is imperative but still challenging. Herein, a facile selenium-assisted reduction approach is reported to fabricate the partially reduced nano-sized Ru with mixed-valence Se species immobilization, directly from commercial RuO 2 through ball milling and annealing procedures. The obtained Ru/Se-RuO 2 composites demonstrate superior electrocatalytic performance toward acidic OER with small overpotentials of 190 and 240 mV at 10 and 100 mA cm −2 , a Tafel slope of only 43.7 mV dec −1 , and no detectable activity decay under operation for 24 h. Experimental results further demonstrate a synergistic effect including enhanced electron transfer interaction by the formation of Ru/RuO 2 heterostructures and more available active sites due to Se doping. Theoretical calculations indicate that slight Se doping and metallic Ru loading can significantly decrease the free energy change for the formation of *OOH intermediate, and thus dramatically promotes the OER performance. This strategy offers a promising strategy for the development of non-metallic elements incorporated high-performance catalysts and related water electrocatalytic devices for sustainable energy applications.

Strategies for Promoting Catalytic Performance of Ru‐Based Electrocatalysts towards Oxygen/Hydrogen Evolution Reaction

“…[119,120] To data, modification effects of advanced strategies have been demonstrated to be favorable for further promoting the electrocatalytic performance. For example, Wu et al [121] reported the synthesis of Ru/SeÀ RuO 2 via a facile selenium-assisted strategy (Figure 13a). Compared to pristine RuO 2 , the asprepared nanocomposites could exhibit both enhanced catalytic activity and durability towards OER with ultralow overpotentials of 190 and 240 mV at 10 mA cm À 2 .…”

“…To data, modification effects of advanced strategies have been demonstrated to be favorable for further promoting the electrocatalytic performance. For example, Wu et al [121] . reported the synthesis of Ru/Se−RuO 2 via a facile selenium‐assisted strategy (Figure 13a).…”

Surface and near-surface engineering design of transition metal catalysts for promoting water splitting

“…Heteroatom doping is a simple and effective surface engineering strategy for enhancing the performance of transition-metal catalysts in water electrolysis, including cation doping, anion doping, and co-doping. 62 Cation doping, in particular, has been extensively used to tune the d-band electron configuration, optimize the adsorption of reaction intermediates, and thereby improve the catalytic activity. 63 Fan et al reported Zr-doped Ni 2 P (Zr x Ni 2− x P) as an efficient bifunctional catalyst for overall water splitting (Fig.…”

Strategies for the design of ruthenium-based electrocatalysts toward acidic oxygen evolution reaction

“…), and rare earth metals (La, 143 Ce, 144 Y, 145 Er, 146 etc. ), and non-metallic elements (H, 147 C, 148 B, 149 S, 150 Se, 151 Si, 152 etc. ) with Ru through doping and substitution or forming Ru-related pyrochlores and perovskites to greatly enhance the OER performances (Fig.…”