Superassembly of Surface-Enriched Ru Nanoclusters from Trapping-Bonding Strategy for Efficient Hydrogen Evolution

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Electrochemistry
• Catalysis

Background:

• Hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) is crucial for sustainable hydrogen production.
• Current methods face challenges due to slow water dissociation and expensive platinum-based catalysts.
• Developing efficient and cost-effective catalysts is essential for advancing HER technology.

Purpose of the Study:

• To propose a novel trapping-bonding strategy for synthesizing highly active HER catalysts.
• To investigate the superassembly of surface-enriched ruthenium nanoclusters (Ru NCs) on a phytic acid-modified nitrogen-doped carbon framework (NCPO-Ru NCs).
• To evaluate the catalytic performance of NCPO-Ru NCs for HER in alkaline electrolytes and solar-driven water splitting.

Main Methods:

• Synthesis of a phytic acid-modified nitrogen-doped carbon framework with high affinity for metal cations.
• Trapping of ruthenium ions onto the framework surface, followed by cluster formation at 50 °C.
• Adjustment of phytic acid content to control Ru NC distribution and density.
• Electrocatalytic testing for HER in alkaline media and solar-to-hydrogen conversion efficiency measurements.

Main Results:

• The developed NCPO-Ru NCs catalyst exhibits excellent HER activity in alkaline electrolytes.
• The catalyst shows 14.3 and 9.6 times higher activity than commercial Ru/C and Pt/C catalysts, respectively, at an overpotential of 50 mV.
• Surface-enriched Ru nanoclusters with tunable density and distribution were successfully achieved.
• Demonstrated effectiveness in solar-to-hydrogen generation, indicating broad application potential.

Conclusions:

• The trapping-bonding strategy effectively facilitates the formation of highly dispersed, ultrasmall Ru NCs on the carbon framework.
• NCPO-Ru NCs represent a highly active and potentially cost-effective alternative to traditional HER catalysts.
• The catalyst's performance in solar-driven water splitting highlights its promise for sustainable hydrogen production.