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Updated: Aug 14, 2025

Synthesis of Metal Nanoparticles Supported on Carbon Nanotube with Doped Co and N Atoms and its Catalytic Applications in Hydrogen Production
Published on: December 6, 2021
Conversion of bimetallic MOF to Ru-doped Cu electrocatalysts for efficient hydrogen evolution in alkaline media
Mengya Yang1, Long Jiao2, Huilong Dong3
1Institute for Composites Science Innovation (InCSI), School of Materials Science and Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027, China.
Abstract:
The rational design and construction of inexpensive and highly active electrocatalysts for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) is of great importance for water splitting. Herein, we develop a facile approach for preparation of porous carbon-confined Ru-doped Cu nanoparticles (denoted as Ru-Cu@C) by direct pyrolysis of the Ru-exchanged Cu-BTC metal-organic framework. When served as the electrocatalyst for HER, strikingly, the obtained Ru-Cu@C catalyst exhibits an ultralow overpotential (only 20 mV at 10 mA cm-2) with a small Tafel slope of 37 mV dec-1 in alkaline electrolyte. The excellent performance is comparable or even superior to that of commercial Pt/C catalyst. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations confirm that introducing Ru atoms into Cu nanocrystals can significantly alter the desorption of H2 to achieve a close-to-zero hydrogen adsorption energy and thereby boost the HER process. This strategy gives a fresh impetus to explore low-cost and high-performance catalysts for HER in alkaline media.
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