Highly dispersed Ru nanoclusters anchored on B,N co-doped carbon nanotubes for water splitting

Boron and nitrogen co-doped carbon nanotubes (CNTs)were developed as a substrate material for the loading of 2-3 nm uniform Ru clusters. Combined with a theoretical and experimental comparison, it was confirmed that B doping as well as its synergistic effect with N-doping in CNTs can effectively reduce the adsorption energy of the H intermediate at Ru site, improving the catalytic activity of the Ru cluster/CNT material for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and the oxygen evolution reaction (OER). Benefiting from the synergistic effect of multi element doping and a porous tubular structure, the as-formed Ru@B,N-CNTs show excellent electrocatalytic activity for both HER and OER in alkaline conditions. An overpotential of 54 mV and 315 mV is needed to achieve a current density of 10 mA cm(-2), which exceeds requirements for commercial Pt/C and RuO2. Furthermore, when assembled into an electrolyzer with Ru@B,N-CNTs as both the anode and the cathode, the cell requires a cell voltage of only 1.57 V to drive a current density of 10 mA cm(-2) in an alkaline medium and has excellent catalytic stability for over 40 hours.

Automated summary

Boron and nitrogen co-doped carbon nanotubes (CNTs) act as an effective substrate material for Ru cluster loading, improving the catalytic activity for hydrogen and oxygen evolution reactions. The Ru@B,N-CNTs show excellent electrocatalytic performance and high catalytic stability in alkaline conditions.