摘要
The design of efficient Ru-based electrocatalysts with high intrinsic activities for acidic water oxidation is highly desirable and challenging for water splitting in proton exchange membrane electrolyzers.Here,for the first time,we engineer the charge density of Ru(IV)by creating tensile strains in the RuO2 shell of Ru@RuO2 core-shell nanoparticles,viz.Ru@RuO2-L.High-resolution spectroscopic characterizations confirm the presence of av.6%tensile strain in Ru-O bonds,which results in an effective reduction of the Ru(IV)charge density.The resultant Ru^X+(4<X<5)active sites greatly accelerate the oxygen evolution reaction(OER)in an acidic electrolyte,leading to a remarkably low overpotential of 191 mV at 10 mA cm^-2.These values are lower than those for the benchmark RuO2 catalyst and are also among the lowest for efficient Ru-based electrocatalysts reported thus far.The specific activity and mass activity are also greatly enhanced 4.2-fold and 17.7-fold compared to those of RuO2,respectively.The acidic OER activity improvement is ascribed to the lowered adsorption energy of*OOH,owing to the reduced charge density of Ru(IV),and the rapid charge transport owing to the Ru core.Ru@RuO2-L also demonstrates high feasibility as the anode catalyst for the overall water splitting in acidic media.
水作为一种储量巨大且可循环利用的资源,可以被电解槽电化学分解为清洁的氢能和化学品氧气,从而实现环境友好的能源循环.与碱性电解槽相比,质子交换膜(PEM)电解槽具有明显优势,例如更高的电流密度、更高的电压效率、更低的欧姆损耗和更少的不利反应,使其成为生产氢能和氧气的最有希望的装置.作为电化学水分解的半反应之一,氧析出反应(OER)过程是一个四电子和四质子耦合的多步电化学反应,与双电子转移的氢析出发应(HER)相比,需要更高的能量来补偿缓慢的动力学过程.PEM电解槽中高的阳极电势和苛刻的腐蚀环境为阳极电催化剂设定了更高的选择标准,同时由于缺乏高活性和高稳定性的阳极电催化剂,限制了PEM电解槽的广泛应用.在这种条件下,适用的阳极电催化剂主要局限于钌(Ru)和铱(Ir)及其衍生物,因为其固有的电子结构使之具有较高的催化活性.然而,由于Ir的低地球丰度和高成本,人们更希望开发RuO2基电催化剂.遗憾的是,商业RuO2电催化剂在酸性介质中的OER过电位仍然过高,稳定性也比在碱性介质中低得多,无法满足实际应用的要求.此外,从实用角度出发,研究者始终希望提高贵金属Ru基电催化剂的本征活性以减少实际应用所需的催化剂量.因此,迫切需要改性RuO2基电催化剂以提升其在酸性介质中的析氧反应催化活性.迄今,研究已经证实活性中间体*OOH的形成是酸性介质中OER的速率决定步骤(RDS),但是RuO2基催化剂中Ru^4+活性位点对活性中间体*OOH的吸附过强,导致商用RuO2具有约300 mV的过电势(10 mA cm^-2).为了减弱*OOH在Ru^4+活性位点上的吸附能并降低RDS能垒,研究人员做了大量的试验来调节Ru^4+活性位点的电子结构,包括杂原子掺杂和制备Ru基固溶体.应变效应也是调整合金催化剂电子结构的有效策略.在RuO2中利用应变来调节Ru^4+活性位点的电子结构进而
基金
国家自然科学基金(51572188,51822106).
