Ultrafine RuIr Alloy Nanoparticles Embedded in N-Doped Porous Carbon Nanofibers From Energetic Metal-Organic
Long Feng1, Xiaojing Wu1, Bingbing Ma2
1State Key Laboratory of Heavy Oil Processing, China University of Petroleum, Beijing, China.
Abstract:
Designing efficient and durable electrocatalysts for alkaline hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) is pivotal to a sustainable hydrogen economy. Here, we embed ultrafine RuIr alloy nanoparticles in N-doped porous carbon nanofibers (NCNFs) by electrospinning energetic metal-organic framework (MOF) precursors followed by pyrolysis. The resulting RuIr@NCNFs exhibit an overpotential as low as 22 mV at 10 mA cm-2 in 1.0 M KOH, surpassing commercial Pt/C, and exhibit negligible activity decay over 12 h of continuous operation. Combined density functional theory and spectroscopy indicate Ir → Ru charge redistribution that optimizes ΔGH * and facilitates water dissociation (Volmer), thereby accelerating the overall alkaline HER kinetics. Meanwhile, Ir incorporation mitigates Ru oxidation, enhancing long-term durability. Additionally, the N-doped porous carbon scaffold enhances electronic conductivity and mass transport, further boosting performance. This work highlights how bimetallic synergy coupled with MOF-derived carbon architectures enables highly active and robust alkaline HER catalysts with technologically relevant durability.
