A concurrently optimization of H and OH binding energies in atomically Ni anchored Ru/RuO2 nanosheet driving high CO-tolerant hydrogen oxidation catalysis
Liangbin Liu, Lujie Jin, Renjie Ren, Wei Yan, Nan Fang, Yujin Ji, Youyong Li, Lin Zhuang, Qingyu Kong, Zhiwei Hu, Qi Shao, Xiaoqing Huang
Abstract
The development of highly active and CO-tolerant hydrogen oxidation reaction (HOR) electrocatalysts is of great significance for alkaline exchange membrane fuel cells (AEMFCs). Here, the designed atomically Ni anchored Ru/RuO2 heterostructure nanosheets (NiSA-Ru@RuO2 NSs/C) exhibit enhanced activity and stability for HOR in alkaline media. The optimized electrocatalyst delivers a high CO-tolerant durability with 92.3% retention in the 1000 ppm CO concentration after 5000 s test. Moreover, the anode catalyst NiSA-Ru@RuO2 NSs/C assembled AEMFCs output a peak power density (PPD) and specific PPD of 1.76 W cm−2 and 17.6 W mgPGM−1 under the H2/O2 condition and performed a long-term stability with negligible decay for 100 h at 0.5 A cm−2 for the AEMFCs. The relative mechanism studies reveal that the Ru/RuO2 heterostructure nanosheet and dispersed Ni single atoms have optimized the *H and *OH adsorption simultaneously and weaken the *CO adsorption. Our work may offer a significant guideline on the rational design of high-performance HOR electrocatalyst for energy-related applications. Here, Ni-anchored Ru/RuO2 heterostructure nanosheets serve as CO-tolerant hydrogen oxidation catalyst delivering a peak power density of 1.76 W cm-2, along with long-term stability in an alkaline exchange membrane fuel cell operating under H2/Air conditions.