Heteroatom dopants overcome the activity-stability trade-off in RuO2 for acidic oxygen evolution
Abstract The pursuit of RuO2 as an alternative acidic oxygen evolution reaction electrocatalyst to IrO2 holds great promise, yet simultaneously achieving highly active and stable RuO2 remains an urgent challenge, as conventional strategies often boost one property at the expense of the other. Here,...
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| Format: | Article |
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Nature Portfolio
2025-07-01
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| Series: | Nature Communications |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-62036-x |
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| author | Wei Zheng Yang Zhao Kang Jiang Feng Xie Linghu Meng Shanqiang Gao Jilong Li Jiao Lan Min Luo Lifeng Liu Yongwen Tan |
| author_facet | Wei Zheng Yang Zhao Kang Jiang Feng Xie Linghu Meng Shanqiang Gao Jilong Li Jiao Lan Min Luo Lifeng Liu Yongwen Tan |
| author_sort | Wei Zheng |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract The pursuit of RuO2 as an alternative acidic oxygen evolution reaction electrocatalyst to IrO2 holds great promise, yet simultaneously achieving highly active and stable RuO2 remains an urgent challenge, as conventional strategies often boost one property at the expense of the other. Here, we successfully construct Ta and B co-doped nanoporous RuO2 with Ru-O-Ta frameworks and Ru-O-B active sites to overcome the activity-stability trade-off. The Ru-O-Ta frameworks stabilize the Ru sites by mediating bridging oxygen and preferentially replenishing oxygen vacancies, thereby facilitating the oxygen evolution reaction through the adsorbate evolution mechanism. Concurrently, the Ru-O-Ta/B sites not only switch the rate-determining step but also lower the energy barriers, thereby enhancing catalytic activity. The Ta/B-RuO2 exhibits a low overpotential of 170 mV at 10 mA cm− 2, a favorable Tafel slope of 44 mV dec−1, and an outstanding durability. We demonstrate that proton-exchange membrane water electrolyzers equipped with Ta/B-RuO2 achieves a current density of 1.0 A cm−2 at a low voltage of 1.6 V and maintains stable operation for 120 h at 200 mA cm−2. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-cdcbbefb381d422bbccd4a1ccc7f9080 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2041-1723 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-07-01 |
| publisher | Nature Portfolio |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Nature Communications |
| spelling | doaj-art-cdcbbefb381d422bbccd4a1ccc7f90802025-08-20T03:42:51ZengNature PortfolioNature Communications2041-17232025-07-0116111110.1038/s41467-025-62036-xHeteroatom dopants overcome the activity-stability trade-off in RuO2 for acidic oxygen evolutionWei Zheng0Yang Zhao1Kang Jiang2Feng Xie3Linghu Meng4Shanqiang Gao5Jilong Li6Jiao Lan7Min Luo8Lifeng Liu9Yongwen Tan10College of Materials Science and Engineering, State Key Laboratory of Advanced Design and Manufacturing for Vehicle Body, Hunan UniversitySongshan Lake Materials Laboratory (SLAB)College of Materials Science and Engineering, State Key Laboratory of Advanced Design and Manufacturing for Vehicle Body, Hunan UniversityCollege of Materials Science and Engineering, State Key Laboratory of Advanced Design and Manufacturing for Vehicle Body, Hunan UniversityCollege of Materials Science and Engineering, State Key Laboratory of Advanced Design and Manufacturing for Vehicle Body, Hunan UniversityCollege of Materials Science and Engineering, State Key Laboratory of Advanced Design and Manufacturing for Vehicle Body, Hunan UniversityCollege of Materials Science and Engineering, State Key Laboratory of Advanced Design and Manufacturing for Vehicle Body, Hunan UniversityCollege of Materials Science and Engineering, State Key Laboratory of Advanced Design and Manufacturing for Vehicle Body, Hunan UniversityShanghai Technical Institute of Electronics & InformationSongshan Lake Materials Laboratory (SLAB)College of Materials Science and Engineering, State Key Laboratory of Advanced Design and Manufacturing for Vehicle Body, Hunan UniversityAbstract The pursuit of RuO2 as an alternative acidic oxygen evolution reaction electrocatalyst to IrO2 holds great promise, yet simultaneously achieving highly active and stable RuO2 remains an urgent challenge, as conventional strategies often boost one property at the expense of the other. Here, we successfully construct Ta and B co-doped nanoporous RuO2 with Ru-O-Ta frameworks and Ru-O-B active sites to overcome the activity-stability trade-off. The Ru-O-Ta frameworks stabilize the Ru sites by mediating bridging oxygen and preferentially replenishing oxygen vacancies, thereby facilitating the oxygen evolution reaction through the adsorbate evolution mechanism. Concurrently, the Ru-O-Ta/B sites not only switch the rate-determining step but also lower the energy barriers, thereby enhancing catalytic activity. The Ta/B-RuO2 exhibits a low overpotential of 170 mV at 10 mA cm− 2, a favorable Tafel slope of 44 mV dec−1, and an outstanding durability. We demonstrate that proton-exchange membrane water electrolyzers equipped with Ta/B-RuO2 achieves a current density of 1.0 A cm−2 at a low voltage of 1.6 V and maintains stable operation for 120 h at 200 mA cm−2.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-62036-x |
| spellingShingle | Wei Zheng Yang Zhao Kang Jiang Feng Xie Linghu Meng Shanqiang Gao Jilong Li Jiao Lan Min Luo Lifeng Liu Yongwen Tan Heteroatom dopants overcome the activity-stability trade-off in RuO2 for acidic oxygen evolution Nature Communications |
| title | Heteroatom dopants overcome the activity-stability trade-off in RuO2 for acidic oxygen evolution |
| title_full | Heteroatom dopants overcome the activity-stability trade-off in RuO2 for acidic oxygen evolution |
| title_fullStr | Heteroatom dopants overcome the activity-stability trade-off in RuO2 for acidic oxygen evolution |
| title_full_unstemmed | Heteroatom dopants overcome the activity-stability trade-off in RuO2 for acidic oxygen evolution |
| title_short | Heteroatom dopants overcome the activity-stability trade-off in RuO2 for acidic oxygen evolution |
| title_sort | heteroatom dopants overcome the activity stability trade off in ruo2 for acidic oxygen evolution |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-62036-x |
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