Recent advances in heteroatom-doped RuO₂ electrocatalysts for efficient acidic oxygen evolution reaction

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Electrochemistry
• Catalysis

Background:

• Acidic oxygen evolution reaction (OER) electrocatalysts are essential for cost-effective proton exchange membrane water electrolyzers.
• Rutile-phase ruthenium dioxide (RuO2) is a promising OER electrocatalyst due to its lower cost and high activity compared to iridium dioxide (IrO2).
• However, RuO2 suffers from performance degradation caused by dissolution and structural collapse at high potentials due to Ru overoxidation to soluble RuO4.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review the mechanisms of acidic OER and the classification of doping forms in RuO2.
• To provide a comprehensive overview of RuO2-based electrocatalysts with various doping types.
• To discuss the underlying mechanisms that improve activity and stability, addressing the trade-off between them.

Main Methods:

• Literature review of RuO2-based electrocatalysts for acidic OER.
• Analysis of doping strategies, including metal and non-metal incorporation.
• Examination of mechanisms responsible for enhanced catalytic activity and stability.

Main Results:

• Incorporating foreign metal/non-metal dopants into RuO2 is an effective strategy to suppress Ru dissolution and improve intrinsic activity.
• Doping can significantly enhance the durability and performance of RuO2-based electrocatalysts for acidic OER.
• Understanding doping mechanisms is key to breaking the activity-stability trade-off in RuO2 electrocatalysts.

Conclusions:

• Doping is a critical approach for developing robust RuO2-based electrocatalysts for acidic OER.
• Further research is needed to address current challenges and explore future trends in robust RuO2 electrocatalyst design.
• Optimized doping strategies can lead to highly active and durable electrocatalysts for efficient water electrolysis.