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Formation of Branched Ruthenium Nanoparticles for Improved Electrocatalysis of Oxygen Evolution Reaction
Author(s) -
Poerwoprajitno Agus R.,
Gloag Lucy,
Benedetti Tania M.,
Cheong Soshan,
Watt John,
Huber Dale L.,
Gooding J. Justin,
Tilley Richard D.
Publication year - 2019
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.201804577
Subject(s) - overpotential , ruthenium , nanoparticle , crystallinity , electrocatalyst , oxygen evolution , catalysis , materials science , dissolution , chemical engineering , crystallite , nanotechnology , chemistry , electrochemistry , electrode , organic chemistry , composite material , metallurgy , engineering
Branched nanoparticles are one of the most promising nanoparticle catalysts as their branch sizes and surfaces can be tuned to enable both high activity and stability. Understanding how the crystallinity and surface facets of branched nanoparticles affect their catalytic performance is vital for further catalyst development. In this work, a synthesis is developed to form highly branched ruthenium (Ru) nanoparticles with control of crystallinity. It is shown that faceted Ru branched nanoparticles have improved stability and activity in the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) compared with polycrystalline Ru nanoparticles. This work achieves a low 180 mV overpotential at 10 mA cm −2 for hours, demonstrating that record‐high stability for Ru nanocrystals can be achieved while retaining high activity for OER. The superior electrocatalytic performance of faceted Ru branched nanoparticles is ascribed to the lower Ru dissolution rate under OER conditions due to low‐index facets on the branch surfaces.