Activating ruthenium dioxide via compressive strain achieving efficient multifunctional electrocatalysis for Zn‐air batteries and overall water splitting
Yu Qiu,
Yifei Rao,
Yinan Zheng,
Hao Hu,
Wenhua Zhang,
Xiaohui Guo
Affiliations
Yu Qiu
Key Lab of Synthetic and Natural Functional Molecule Chemistry of Ministry of Education, and College of Chemistry and Materials Science Northwest University Xi'an People's Republic of China
Yifei Rao
Hefei National Laboratory for Physical Sciences at the Microscale, Synergetic Innovation of Quantum Information & Quantum Technology, School of Chemistry and Materials Sciences University of Science and Technology of China Hefei People's Republic of China
Yinan Zheng
Key Lab of Synthetic and Natural Functional Molecule Chemistry of Ministry of Education, and College of Chemistry and Materials Science Northwest University Xi'an People's Republic of China
Hao Hu
Key Lab of Synthetic and Natural Functional Molecule Chemistry of Ministry of Education, and College of Chemistry and Materials Science Northwest University Xi'an People's Republic of China
Wenhua Zhang
Hefei National Laboratory for Physical Sciences at the Microscale, Synergetic Innovation of Quantum Information & Quantum Technology, School of Chemistry and Materials Sciences University of Science and Technology of China Hefei People's Republic of China
Xiaohui Guo
Key Lab of Synthetic and Natural Functional Molecule Chemistry of Ministry of Education, and College of Chemistry and Materials Science Northwest University Xi'an People's Republic of China
Abstract Surface strain engineering is a promising strategy to design various electrocatalysts for sustainable energy storage and conversion. However, achieving the multifunctional activity of the catalyst via the adjustment of strain engineering remains a major challenge. Herein, an excellent trifunctional electrocatalyst (Ru/RuO2@NCS) is prepared by anchoring lattice mismatch strained core/shell Ru/RuO2 nanocrystals on nitrogen‐doped carbon nanosheets. Core/shell Ru/RuO2 nanocrystals with ~5 atomic layers of RuO2 shells eliminate the ligand effect and produce ~2% of the surface compressive strain, which can boost the trifunctional activity (oxygen evolution reaction [OER], oxygen reduction reaction [ORR], and hydrogen evolution reaction [HER]) of the catalyst. When equipped in rechargeable Zn‐air batteries, the Ru/RuO2@NCS endows them with high power (137.1 mW cm−2) and energy (714.9 Wh kgZn−1) density and excellent cycle stability. Moreover, the as‐fabricated Zn‐air batteries can drive a water splitting electrolyzer assembled with Ru/RuO2@NCS and achieve a current density of 10 mA cm−2 only requires a low potential ~1.51 V. Density functional theory calculations reveal that the compressive strained RuO2 could reduce the reaction barrier and improve the binding of rate‐determining intermediates (*OH, *O, *OOH, and *H), leading to the enhanced catalytic activity and stability. This work can provide a novel avenue for the rational design of multifunctional catalysts in future clean energy fields.
