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Ultralow Loading Ruthenium Nanoparticles on Nitrogen‐Doped Graphene Aerogel for Trifunctional Electrocatalysis
Author(s) -
Zhu Bingjun,
Qu Chong,
Gao Song,
Liang Zibin,
Zhang Hao,
Zou Ruqiang
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
chemcatchem
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.497
H-Index - 106
eISSN - 1867-3899
pISSN - 1867-3880
DOI - 10.1002/cctc.201701691
Subject(s) - aerogel , electrocatalyst , ruthenium , graphene , nanoparticle , materials science , catalysis , ruthenium oxide , chemical engineering , oxide , inorganic chemistry , oxygen evolution , nanotechnology , chemistry , electrochemistry , electrode , organic chemistry , engineering , metallurgy
A three‐dimensional (3 D) nitrogen‐doped graphene aerogel (NGA) with confined ultrasmall ruthenium nanoparticles (2–4 nm) was prepared through a hydrothermal reaction of graphene oxide (GO), ammonia solution, and ruthenium trichloride hydrate, followed by high‐temperature annealing and oxidation. The reactants self‐assemble into a 3 D porous structure with Ru nanoparticles embedded inside. With ultralow N and Ru contents of 2.40 and 1.21 at %, the introduction of Ru and N in the 3 D graphene aerogel gives rise to multifunctional catalytic performance in oxygen‐ and hydrogen‐involved reactions. Particularly, its performance in the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) surpassed those of commercial Pt/C and RuO 2 in terms of both smaller potential (1.62 V vs. RHE) to reach 10 mA cm −2 and larger current densities across the applied potential range of 1 to 2 V (vs. RHE). Structural and chemical characterization revealed that the nanoparticle size and Ru/RuO 2 ratio played decisive roles in determining the aerogel's electrocatalytic performance. Hence, this study demonstrates that the synergistic effect of nanosized Ru and a porous NGA can be applied to achieve effective multifunctional electrocatalysis, for which the Ru nanoparticles can be tailored to achieve optimized performance with the lowest‐necessary doping concentration.