Defect-Rich Fe3+-Substituted RuO2: A Novel Rutile Phase Setting a New Benchmark in Alkaline Water Oxidation
Year: 2026
Type: preprint
Abstract: We report a new material exhibiting outstanding oxygen evolution reaction (OER) performance in alkaline media, delivering an ultralow overpotential of 86 mV at 100 mA cm -2 , sustained operation above 200 mA·cm -2 , and exceptional long-term stability over 1000 hours without noticeable degradation. A low-temperature (200 °C) single-source precursor (SSP) strategy enabled the synthesis of a previously unreported Fe 3+ -substituted rutile phase, Ru 0.63 Fe 0.37 O 2-x , characterized by atomic-scale cation mixing, abundant oxygen vacancies, and ultrasmall particle sizes (2–5 nm). Structural analysis confirms uniform Fe 3+ incorporation into the rutile lattice, yielding defect-rich, porous oxide framework that is inaccessible through conventional synthetic routes. The resulting ternary oxide is chemically robust, remaining insoluble in both alkaline solutions and aqua regia, and exhibits enhanced porosity with a high BET surface area of 153 m 2 ∙g -1 and an electrochemically active surface area of 205.75 cm 2 , more than three times that of pristine RuO 2 , indicating substantially improved active-site accessibility. These results demonstrate how precise lattice substitution, low-temperature SSP synthesis, and targeted surface modulation synergistically optimize Ru-based OER catalysts, establishing a clear link between controlled structural design and high-rate electrochemical performance.
Source: ChemRxiv
Language: English
Field: Energy
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
Awards: G102163711, G107546177, G1313983767, G1664757510, CAREER: Revealing the Interplay of Spin and Charge Degrees of Freedom in Iron Complexes With Redox Active Ligands, G2287611682, G2513437044, G262962599, G2865705397, G3075337988, Synthesis of Heterometallic Single-Source Carbonaceous Precursors for Materials that Require a Carbon Modulation, G3589692066, G4107335151, G498139845, G513797252, G6629524424, G6918803902, NSF’s ChemMatCARS: A Synchrotron X-ray National User Facility for Molecular Science at the Advanced Photon Source, G7663099630, G971015997, G993149817
OpenAlex ID: W7214354442