Engineering VO-Ti ensemble to boost the activity of Ru towards water dissociation for catalytic hydrogen generation

High activity catalysts used for eliminating the energy barrier in water breaking-up are of great significance for accelerating those reactions retarded by water molecules dissociation. In this work, an oxygen vacancy (VO)-Ti ensemble engineering on Ru catalyst was established to boost the catalytic activity toward water dissociation. The VO in VO-Ti ensemble plays as electron promoter to transfers electrons to surface Ru atoms. The rich electron state of Ru boosts the catalytic activity toward water dissociation. As an experimental verification, the turnover frequency of 1.5-RTVO-4 in ammonia borane hydrolysis reaches up to 1370 min-1 (9710 min-1 depend on the dispersion of Ru), exceeding the benchmark value set up by Ru-based catalysts. This research provides a novel electronic tuning strategy for VO as imaginary atom via electron promoter effect to enhance the intrinsic catalytic activity of metal catalysts toward inert molecule dissociation in the next generation energy chemistry field.

Automated summary

This study established an oxygen vacancy (VO)-Ti ensemble engineering on a Ru catalyst to enhance the catalytic activity of water dissociation. The VO in the VO-Ti ensemble acts as an electron promoter, transferring electrons to the surface Ru atoms. Experimental results showed that the turnover frequency of 1.5-RTVO-4 in ammonia borane hydrolysis exceeded the benchmark value set by Ru-based catalysts. This research provides a new electronic tuning strategy for enhancing the catalytic activity of metal catalysts towards inert molecule dissociation in the next generation energy chemistry field.