Ru-Doped Fe₂TiO₅ as a High-Performance Electrocatalyst for Urea-Assisted Water Splitting

The urea oxidation reaction (UOR), with its low thermodynamic potential, offers a promising alternative to the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) for efficient hydrogen production. However, its sluggish kinetics still demand the development of an efficient electrocatalyst. In this study, the critical role of Ru doping in Fe₂TiO₅ is demonstrated to accelerate UOR kinetics. The computational finding confirmed the feasibility of this approach, guiding the experimental synthesis of Fe_2-xRu_xTiO₅. Benefitting from surface properties and electronic structure, the synthesized material exhibits superior performance with a potential of 1.30 V at a current density of 10 mA cm^-2 for UOR, compared to undoped Fe2TiO5 (1.40 V). Moreover, it demonstrates a favourable Tafel slope of 52 mV dec^-1 and maintains robust durability for 72 h. As confirmed from experimental and computational findings, the enhanced activity can be attributed to the Ru doping resulting in structural distortion at the Fe site and creation of a favourable adsorption site thereby enhancing UOR via dual active center. This study not only broadens the potential applications of Fe2TiO5-based materials beyond their traditional role as photocatalysts but also establishes them as promising electrocatalysts underscoring the versatility and improved performance of Fe_2-xRu_xTiO₅.