Work

Ordered modulation of electronic structure for efficient alkaline hydrogen oxidation

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: The slow kinetics of the hydrogen oxidation reaction (HOR) in alkaline media requires higher loadings of noble metal catalysts to achieve satisfactory kinetic activity, which greatly undermines the cost competitiveness of anion‐exchange membrane fuel cells. Herein, we prepared an atomically ordered RuGa intermetallic nanocatalyst ( imc ‐RuGa/ hp ‐hCN) anchored on hierarchical porous nitrogen‐doped carbon. The ordered arrangement of the oxygenophilic Ga atoms and Ru atoms directionally modulates Ru electronic structure, synergistically optimizing *H and *OH adsorption energies for enhanced HOR catalysis. The mass activity of the catalyst reaches up to 9.93 A mg Ru −1 , which is 13 times higher than that of commercial PtRu/C. Importantly, the catalyst is stabilized for 600 h with a decay rate of only 10.5%. Theoretical calculations demonstrate the atomic‐scale ordered structure confers a homogeneous electron environment for the Ru active sites, enabling the catalyst to simultaneously maintain high activity, stability, and CO tolerance.

Source: FlexMat.

DOI: 10.1002/flm2.70025

Authors: Ziang Shang, Guanzhen Chen, Zhibo Cui, Wensheng Jiao, Yunhu Han

Institutions: Northwestern Polytechnical University, Nanjing University of Posts and Telecommunications

Language: English

Topic: Electrocatalysts for Energy Conversion

Subfield: Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment

Field: Energy

Domain: Physical Sciences

SDG: Affordable and clean energy

Open Access status: diamond

Funders: Northwestern University, National Natural Science Foundation of China, Northwestern Polytechnical University