Heterointerface and Tensile Strain Effects Synergistically Enhances Overall Water‐Splitting in Ru/RuO<sub>2</sub> Aerogels
Nicole L. D. Sui, Yinghao Li, Wenjie Xie, Guangzhao Wang, Jong‐Min Lee
Abstract
Abstract Designing robust electrocatalysts for water‐splitting is essential for sustainable hydrogen generation, yet difficult to accomplish. In this study, a fast and facile two‐step technique to synthesize Ru/RuO 2 aerogels for catalyzing overall water‐splitting under alkaline conditions is reported. Benefiting from the synergistic combination of high porosity, heterointerface, and tensile strain effects, the Ru/RuO 2 aerogel exhibits low overpotential for oxygen evolution reaction (189 mV) and hydrogen evolution reaction (34 mV) at 10 mA cm −2 , surpassing RuO 2 (338 mV) and Pt/C (53 mV), respectively. Notably, when the Ru/RuO 2 aerogels are applied at the anode and cathode, the resultant water‐splitting cell reflected a low potential of 1.47 V at 10 mA cm −2 , exceeding the commercial Pt/C||RuO 2 standard (1.63 V). X‐ray adsorption spectroscopy and theoretical studies demonstrate that the heterointerface of Ru/RuO 2 optimizes charge redistribution, which reduces the energy barriers for hydrogen and oxygen intermediates, thereby enhancing oxygen and hydrogen evolution reaction kinetics.