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NiO as a Bifunctional Promoter for RuO 2 toward Superior Overall Water Splitting
Author(s) -
Liu Jinlong,
Zheng Yao,
Jiao Yan,
Wang Zhenyu,
Lu Zhouguang,
Vasileff Anthony,
Qiao ShiZhang
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
small
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.785
H-Index - 236
eISSN - 1613-6829
pISSN - 1613-6810
DOI - 10.1002/smll.201704073
Subject(s) - bifunctional , oxygen evolution , non blocking i/o , electrocatalyst , water splitting , electrolysis of water , electrochemistry , materials science , electrolysis , catalysis , dissociation (chemistry) , nanotechnology , chemical engineering , chemistry , electrode , biochemistry , photocatalysis , electrolyte , engineering
Conventional development of nanomaterials for efficient electrocatalysis is largely based on performance‐oriented trial‐and‐error/iterative approaches, while a rational design approach at the atomic/molecular level is yet to be found. Here, inspired by a fundamental understanding of the mechanism for both oxygen and hydrogen evolution half reactions (OER/HER), a unique strategy is presented to engineer RuO 2 for superior alkaline water electrolysis through coupling with NiO as an efficient bifunctional promoter. Benefitting from desired potential‐induced interfacial synergies, NiO‐derived NiOOH improves the oxygen binding energy of RuO 2 for enhanced OER, and NiO also promotes water dissociation for enhanced HER on RuO 2 ‐derived Ru. The resulting hybrid material exhibits remarkable bifunctional activities, affording 2.6 times higher OER activity than that of RuO 2 and an HER activity comparable to Pt/C. As a result, the simple system requires only 1.5 V to deliver 10 mA cm −2 for overall alkaline water splitting, outperforming the benchmark PtC/NF||IrO 2 /NF couple with high mass loading. Comprehensive electrochemical investigation reveals the unique and critical role of NiO on the optimized RuO 2 /NiO interface for synergistically enhanced activities, which may be extended to broader (electro)catalytic systems.