Construction of Zn-doped RuO<sub>2</sub> nanowires for efficient and stable water oxidation in acidic media.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 37130878.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1038/s41467-023-38213-1 and PMC identifier 10154325.
- 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
Oxygen evolution reaction catalysts capable of working efficiently in acidic media are highly demanded for the commercialization of proton exchange membrane water electrolysis. Herein, we report a Zn-doped RuO<sub>2</sub> nanowire array electrocatalyst with outstanding catalytic performance for the oxygen evolution reaction under acidic conditions. Overpotentials as low as 173, 304, and 373 mV are achieved at 10, 500, and 1000 mA cm<sup>-2</sup>, respectively, with robust stability reaching to 1000 h at 10 mA cm<sup>-2</sup>. Experimental and theoretical investigations establish a clear synergistic effect of Zn dopants and oxygen vacancies on regulating the binding configurations of oxygenated adsorbates on the active centers, which then enables an alternative Ru-Zn dual-site oxide path of the reaction. Due to the change of reaction pathways, the energy barrier of rate-determining step is reduced, and the over-oxidation of Ru active sites is alleviated. As a result, the catalytic activity and stability are significantly enhanced.