Amorphization activated ruthenium-tellurium nanorods for efficient water splitting.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 31831748.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1038/s41467-019-13519-1 and PMC identifier 6908605.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
Pursuing active and durable water splitting electrocatalysts is of vital significance for solving the sluggish kinetics of the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) process in energy supply. Herein, theoretical calculations identify that the local distortion-strain effect in amorphous RuTe<sub>2</sub> system abnormally sensitizes the Te-pπ coupling capability and enhances the electron-transfer of Ru-sites, in which the excellent inter-orbital p-d transfers determine strong electronic activities for boosting OER performance. Thus, a robust electrocatalyst based on amorphous RuTe<sub>2</sub> porous nanorods (PNRs) is successfully fabricated. In the acidic water splitting, a-RuTe<sub>2</sub> PNRs exhibit a superior performance, which only require a cell voltage of 1.52 V to reach a current density of 10 mA cm<sup>-2</sup>. Detailed investigations show that the high density of defects combine with oxygen atoms to form RuO<sub>x</sub>H<sub>y</sub> species, which are conducive to the OER. This work offers valuable insights for constructing robust electrocatalysts based on theoretical calculations guided by rational design and amorphous materials.