Ion-Sieve-Confined Synthesis of Size-Tunable Ru for Electrochemical Hydrogen Evolution.

Liang, Song; Dong, Chenlong; Zhou, Ce; Wang, Ruiqi; Huang, Fuqiang · Nano Lett · 2024

basic_science · Level V

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Abstract

The controllable and low-cost synthesis of nanometal particles is highly desired in scientific and industrial research. Herein, size-tunable Ru nanoparticles were synthesized by using a novel ion-sieve-confined reduction method. The H<sub>2</sub>TiO<sub>3</sub> ion-sieve was used to adsorb Ru<sup>3+</sup> into the hydroxyl-enriched porous [TiO<sub>3</sub>]<sup>2-</sup> layers. The confined environment of the interlayer space facilitates Ru-Ru collision and bonding during annealing, achieving a precise reduction from Ru<sup>3+</sup> to Ru<sup>0</sup> without additional reductants. Owing to the confinement effect, Ru<sup>0</sup> nanoparticles are uniformly embedded in the pores on the surface of the postannealed TiO<sub>2</sub> matrix (Ru@TiO<sub>2</sub>). Ru@TiO<sub>2</sub> exhibited a lower overpotential than Pt/C (57 vs 87 mV at 10 mA cm<sup>-2</sup>) for the HER in 0.1 M KOH solution. The confinement-induced reduction of metal ions was also preliminarily proved in ion-exchanged zeolites, which provides facile and abundant approaches for the size-controllable synthesis of nanometal catalysts with high catalytic activity.