Boron Vacancy Enhanced Ru─Mo Electron Bridge as an Efficient Electrocatalyst for Anion Exchange Membrane Electrolysis
Wenli Yu, Pengfei Yang, Fusheng Liu, Hongdong Li, Weiping Xiao, Tianyi Ma, Guangrui Xu, Xuyun Guo, Dahai Zhang, Lei Wang, Bin Li, Zexing Wu
Abstract
ABSTRACT Hybrid electrocatalysts combining noble metals with tailored supports are crucial for efficient hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) across a wide pH range. Here, we report a ruthenium cluster catalyst anchored on molybdenum boride support engineered with boron vacancies (Ru/MoB‐B V ) for highly efficient HER. The introduced boron vacancies optimize the electronic interactions between molybdenum boride and the Ru cluster via a Ru─Mo electron bridge, leading to enhanced catalytic performance and stability. Combined electrochemical analysis and density functional theory calculations reveal that Ru/MoB‐B V possesses a favorable water‐dissociation energy and optimal desorption energies for hydrogen/hydroxide intermediates on Ru clusters. These merits confer exceptional HER performance, with overpotentials of 40 and 34 mV at 10 mA cm −2 in alkaline freshwater and seawater, respectively; 24 mV in acidic electrolyte; and 67 mV in neutral electrolyte. Importantly, the activated Ru and Mo sites enable an anion exchange membrane electrolyzer employing Ru/MoB‐B V as the cathode to exhibit remarkable stability, operating for 100 h at 500 mA cm −2 . This work provides insights into the design of highly efficient and stable catalysts through the precise engineering of surface vacancies.