Tungsten oxide-anchored Ru clusters with electron-rich and anti-corrosive microenvironments for efficient and robust seawater splitting

Abstract

Ruthenium (Ru) has been recognized as a prospective candidate to substitute platinum catalysts in water-splitting-based hydrogen production. However, minimizing the Ru contents, optimizing the water dissociation energy of Ru sites, and enhancing the long-term stability are extremely required, but still face a great challenge. Here, we report on creating tungsten oxide-anchored Ru clusters (Ru–WO_x) with electron-rich and anti-corrosive microenvironments for efficient and robust seawater splitting. Benefiting from the abundant oxygen vacancy structure in tungsten oxide support, the Ru–WO_x exhibits strong Ru–O and Ru–W bonds at the interface. Our study elucidates that the strong Ru–O bonds in Ru–WO_x may accelerate the water dissociation kinetics, and the Ru–W bonds will lead to the strong metal–support interaction and electrons transfer from W to Ru. The optimal Ru–WO_x catalysts exhibit a low overpotential of 29 and 218 mV at the current density of 10 mA cm⁻² in alkaline and seawater media, respectively. The outstanding long-term stability discloses that the Ru–WO_x catalysts own efficient corrosion resistance in seawater electrolysis. We believe that this work offers new insights into the essential roles of electron-rich and anti-corrosive microenvironments in Ru-based catalysts and provide a new pathway to design efficient and robust cathodes for seawater splitting.

Keywords

hydrogen production / microenvironment modulation / noble metal catalysts / seawater splitting / tungsten oxide

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