One-Dimensional RuIrTe Nanotubes with Amorphous Surface as a Highly Active and Stable Electrocatalyst Toward Oxygen...

The sluggish kinetics and poor durability of the acidic oxygen evolution reaction (OER) remain the primary obstacles to the large-scale deployment of proton exchange membrane water electrolysis (PEMWE). Here, we report a class of one-dimensional (1D) RuIrTe ternary alloy nanotubes that effectively address the inherent activity-stability trade-off through a unique core-shell heterostructure. This architecture, featuring a conductive crystalline RuIrTe core and a defect-rich, amorphous Te-doped RuIr oxide shell, is fabricated via a rational etching-induced reconstruction strategy. The 1D hollow morphology ensures rapid mass and charge transport, while the amorphous reconstructed surface provides highly active and flexible sites for water oxidation. Consequently, the optimized Ru₃Ir₁Te NTs electrocatalyst exhibits exceptional OER performance in 0.5 M H₂SO₄, achieving an overpotential of 204 mV at 10 mA cm^-2 and a mass activity 155 times higher than commercial IrO₂. Moreover, in a PEMWE cell, the catalyst achieves an industrial-level current density of 1.57 A cm^-2 at 1.80 V with sustained operation for 500 h. Electronic structure analysis reveals that the Te-doped surface modulates the electronic configuration of active centers, effectively lowering the energy barrier of the rate-determining step. This work establishes a versatile surface-engineering paradigm for developing high-performance, durable electrodes for next-generation hydrogen technologies.