Ordered modulation of electronic structure for efficient alkaline hydrogen oxidation

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.

Keywords

anion exchange membrane fuel cells / anti-CO-poisoning / hydrogen oxidation reaction / intermetallic compounds / ordered electronic structure

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2025 The Author(s). FlexMat published by John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd on behalf of Nanjing University of Posts & Telecommunications.