Construction of Dual-Site Atomically Dispersed Electrocatalysts with Ru-C5 Single Atoms and Ru-O4 Nanoclusters for Accelerated Alkali Hydrogen Evolution

Rationally integrating multi-active sites into one ideal catalyst is an effective approach to accelerate multistep reactions by synergic catalysis. Herein, a universal and facile room temperature impregnation strategy is developed to construct Ru atomically dispersed catalyst (Ru ADC) with Ru-C-5 single atoms and Ru oxide nanoclusters (approximate to 1.5 nm), which can also be extended to prepare Ir, Rh, Pt, Au, and Mo atomically dispersed catalysts (ADCs). It is found that the obtained Ru ADC largely boosts alkali hydrogen evolution by concerted catalysis between single atoms and sub-nanoclusters, which only needs an overpotential of 18 mV at 10 mA cm(-2). Further mechanistic studies reveal that Ru-C-5 single atoms and Ru oxide nanoclusters with Ru-O-4 configuration in one catalyst can synergically boost water molecule capture, water dissociation, and hydrogen release. This study opens up a simple method to synthesize dual-site metal ADCs for synergic catalysis of typical multistep reactions.

Automated summary

This study developed a universal method to construct Ru atomically dispersed catalysts, which can accelerate multistep reactions. The catalyst was found to synergically boost water molecule capture, water dissociation, and hydrogen release, providing a new approach for synergic catalysis.