Searching for Pt-like activity, stable and economic electrocatalysts that can function at various pH values for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) is under increasing interest for the scientific community as H2 is a very promising energy carrier with great potential development value for renewable energy conversion. Herein, a unique self-supported heterostructure of RuO2 -RuP2 /Ru on the N, P co-doped carbon matrix (Ru-HMT-MP-7) is demonstrated, which is derived from HMT-based coordination polymers as superior pH-universal electrocatalysts. In the strategy, pyrolysis and phosphating processes are simultaneously proceeded that can produce the unique heterostructure containing three phases of RuO2 , RuP2, and Ru, at the same time the generated RuO2 -RuP2 /Ru can be highly dispersed on the self-assembly N, P co-doped carbon substrates. The resulting heterostructure Ru-HMT-MP-7 exhibits excellent activity superior to that of benchmark Pt/C with low overpotentials at 10 mA cm-2 (33 mV for 1.0 M KOH, 29 mV for 0.5 M H2 SO4 and 86 mV for 1.0 M PBS) and long-term electrocatalysis durability toward HER at various pH values. The rational construction strategy paves a novel avenue for obtaining superior pH-universal catalysts for electrochemical energy storage and conversion.
Keywords: N; P dual-doped carbon; all pH range; heterostructures; hydrogen evolution reaction; ruthenium.
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