Hu Jiandong, Tong Le, Jia Yanlin, Li Ziye, Yang Haowei, Wang Yang, Luo Wenhui, Li Yejun, Pang Yong, Xiong Shiyun, Zhao Zhi Liang, Wang Qi
School of Materials Science and Engineering, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan 410083, People's Republic of China.
School of Materials and Energy, Guangdong University of Technology, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510006, People's Republic of China.
ACS Appl Mater Interfaces. 2025 Apr 2;17(13):19734-19744. doi: 10.1021/acsami.5c00773. Epub 2025 Mar 19.
The development of efficient and reliable acidic oxygen evolution reaction (OER) electrocatalysts represents a crucial step in the process of water electrolysis. RuO, a benchmark OER catalyst, suffers from limited large-scale applicability due to its tendency toward the less stable lattice oxygen mechanism (LOM). This work reports the synthesis of Co-doped RuO nanosheets with a unique porous morphology composed of interconnected grains via a facile molten salt method. Co doping modulates the grain size, effectively increasing the specific surface area and introducing oxygen vacancies. These oxygen vacancies, coupled with the Co dopants, form Co-O(V) motifs that tune the electronic configuration of Ru. This structural engineering promotes a shift in the OER mechanism from the detrimental LOM pathway to the more efficient adsorbate evolution mechanism (AEM), significantly enhancing the stability of the RuO matrix in acidic environments. The optimized Co-RuO catalyst exhibits a low overpotential of 214 mV at 10 mA cm and remarkable stability over commercial RuO and undoped counterparts, owing to the synergistic effect of the increased surface area, Co-O(V) motifs, and favored AEM pathway. This strategy of utilizing Co doping to engineer morphology, electronic structure, and reaction mechanism offers a promising avenue for developing high-performance OER electrocatalysts.
高效且可靠的酸性析氧反应（OER）电催化剂的开发是水电解过程中的关键一步。RuO作为一种基准OER催化剂，由于其倾向于不太稳定的晶格氧机制（LOM），大规模应用受到限制。这项工作报道了通过一种简便的熔盐法合成具有独特多孔形态的Co掺杂RuO纳米片，该形态由相互连接的晶粒组成。Co掺杂调节了晶粒尺寸，有效增加了比表面积并引入了氧空位。这些氧空位与Co掺杂剂一起形成了Co-O(V) motif，从而调节了Ru的电子构型。这种结构工程促进了OER机制从有害的LOM途径向更有效的吸附质析出机制（AEM）的转变，显著提高了RuO基体在酸性环境中的稳定性。优化后的Co-RuO催化剂在10 mA cm时具有214 mV的低过电位，并且由于表面积增加、Co-O(V) motif和有利的AEM途径的协同效应，相对于商业RuO和未掺杂的对应物具有显著的稳定性。这种利用Co掺杂来设计形态、电子结构和反应机制的策略为开发高性能OER电催化剂提供了一条有前景的途径。
