Dynamic oxygen adsorption on single-atomic Ruthenium catalyst with high performance for acidic oxygen evolution reaction

Linlin Cao; Qiquan Luo; Jiajia Chen; Lan Wang; Yue Lin; Huijuan Wang; Xiaokang Liu; Xinyi Shen; Wei Zhang; Wei Liu; Zeming Qi; Zheng Jiang; Jinlong Yang; Tao Yao

doi:10.1038/s41467-019-12886-z

Dynamic oxygen adsorption on single-atomic Ruthenium catalyst with high performance for acidic oxygen evolution reaction

Nat Commun. 2019 Oct 24;10(1):4849. doi: 10.1038/s41467-019-12886-z.

Authors

Linlin Cao¹, Qiquan Luo², Jiajia Chen², Lan Wang³, Yue Lin², Huijuan Wang⁴, Xiaokang Liu¹, Xinyi Shen¹, Wei Zhang¹, Wei Liu¹, Zeming Qi¹, Zheng Jiang⁵, Jinlong Yang², Tao Yao⁶

Affiliations

¹ National Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, 230029, China.
² Hefei National Laboratory for Physical Sciences at the Microscale, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, 230026, China.
³ School of National Defense Science and Technology, Southwest University of Science and Technology, Mianyang, 621010, China.
⁴ Experimental Center of Engineering and Material Science, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, 230026, China.
⁵ Shanghai Synchrotron Radiation Facility, Shanghai Advanced Research Institute, Shanghai, 201800, China.
⁶ National Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, 230029, China. yaot@ustc.edu.cn.

Abstract

Achieving active and stable oxygen evolution reaction (OER) in acid media based on single-atom catalysts is highly promising for cost-effective and sustainable energy supply in proton electrolyte membrane electrolyzers. Here, we report an atomically dispersed Ru₁-N₄ site anchored on nitrogen-carbon support (Ru-N-C) as an efficient and durable electrocatalyst for acidic OER. The single-atom Ru-N-C catalyst delivers an exceptionally intrinsic activity, reaching a mass activity as high as 3571 A g_metal^-1 and turnover frequency of 3348 O₂ h^-1 with a low overpotential of 267 mV at a current density of 10 mA cm^-2. The catalyst shows no evident deactivation or decomposition after 30-hour operation in acidic environment. Operando synchrotron radiation X-ray absorption spectroscopy and infrared spectroscopy identify the dynamic adsorption of single oxygen atom on Ru site under working potentials, and theoretical calculations demonstrate that the O-Ru₁-N₄ site is responsible for the high OER activity and stability.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't