@article{Xu2023, 
author = {Shuai Xu and Mang Niu and Guowei Zhao and Shujun Ming and Xingyun Li and Qilong Zhu and Liang-Xin Ding and Minjun Kim and Asma A. Alothman and Mohammed Sheikh Saleh Mushab and Yusuke Yamauchi},
title = {Size control and electronic manipulation of Ru catalyst over B, N co-doped carbon network for high-performance hydrogen evolution reaction},
year = {2023},
journal = {Nano Research},
volume = {16},
number = {5},
pages = {6212-6219},
keywords = {hydrogen evolution reaction, Ru catalyst, carbon support, doping},
url = {https://www.sciopen.com/article/10.1007/s12274-022-5250-1},
doi = {10.1007/s12274-022-5250-1},
abstract = {Exploring highly efficient Pt-free catalysts for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) is of great importance for hydrogen (H2) production. Herein, a novel HER electrocatalyst having abundant ultra-small (2–3 nm) Ru electronically confined by a B, N co-doped polar carbon surface (Ru/(B-N)-PC) was constructed. The Ru/(B-N)-PC catalyst exhibits a low overpotential of 15 mV at the current density of 10 mA·cm−2, a low Tafel slope of 22.6 mV·dec−1, and superior durability, which outperforms the benchmark Pt/C catalyst. Both experimental characterizations and theory calculations suggest that an electron communication established between B, N co-doped carbon surface and ultra-small Ru nanoparticles with electrons transferred from N atoms to Ru and back-transferred from Ru to B atoms, which exerts a moderate electronic modification of Ru. This, in turn, affords a modest H adsorption energy and a lower H2O dissociation barrier, leading to the high-performance hydrogen evolution reaction. The work provides meaningful insight into the size control and electronic modulation of Ru catalyst for intrinsic HER activity improvement.}
}