Hydroxyl-Binding Energy-Induced Kinetic Gap Narrowing between Acidic and Alkaline Hydrogen Oxidation Reaction on Intermetallic Ru Sn Catalyst.

Developing highly efficient catalysts toward alkaline hydrogen oxidation reaction (HOR) and narrowing the kinetic gap between acidic and alkaline electrolytes are of great importance for the practical application of alkaline exchange membrane fuel cell . Herein, ordered Ru Sn /C intermetallic compound has been developed for the HOR under alkaline and acidic conditions. The authors demonstrate that the ordered intermetallic Ru Sn /C shows much enhanced HOR activity, stability, and CO-tolerance compared with its disordered RuSn solid solution alloy counterpart. More importantly, the authors find that the kinetic gap of HOR between acidic and alkaline media is significantly narrowed in the as-synthesized intermetallic Ru Sn /C catalysts. Combined experiment results and theoretical calculations, the authors understand that promoted hydroxyl-binding energy on Ru Sn /C derived from the intermetallic-induced strong electron interaction is responsible for the accelerated alkaline HOR performance and narrowed kinetic gap.