In situ constructing atomic interface in ruthenium-based amorphous hybrid-structure towards solar hydrogen evolution

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Renewable Energy
• Catalysis

Background:

• Efficient and stable atomic interfaces are crucial for solar energy conversion but difficult to engineer.
• Developing new strategies for constructing these interfaces is key to advancing solar fuel production.

Purpose of the Study:

• To report an in-situ oxygen impregnation strategy for creating atomic interfaces.
• To investigate the formation and properties of homogeneous ruthenium (Ru) and ruthenium oxide (RuO_x) amorphous hybrid-mixtures.
• To evaluate the performance of these interfaces in solar hydrogen evolution.

Main Methods:

• In-situ synchrotron X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) and photoelectron spectroscopy (PES) were used to track interface formation at the atomic level.
• An oxygen impregnation strategy was employed to synthesize the Ru-RuO_x hybrid-mixture.
• Solar hydrogen evolution rates were measured using sacrificial agents.

Main Results:

• Abundant atomic interfaces of homogeneous Ru and RuO_x amorphous hybrid-mixtures were successfully constructed.
• Ruthenium oxide (RuO_x) sites efficiently trapped photoexcited holes (<100 fs), and ruthenium (Ru) sites facilitated electron transfer (~1.73 ps).
• The hybrid structure achieved a high hydrogen evolution rate of 60.8 μmol·h^-1 due to long-lived charge-separated states.

Conclusions:

• The in-situ oxygen impregnation strategy provides a pathway to build efficient atomic interfaces for solar energy conversion.
• The homogeneous Ru-RuO_x hybrid-structure demonstrates significant potential for sacrificial agent-free solar hydrogen evolution.
• This integrated design approach offers guidelines for developing advanced artificial photosynthesis systems.