Single Ru Atoms Stabilized by Hybrid Amorphous/Crystalline FeCoNi Layered Double Hydroxide for Ultraefficient Oxygen Evolution

In view of the sluggish kinetics suppressing the oxygen evolution reaction (OER), developing efficient and robust OER catalysts is urgent and essential for developing efficient energy conversion technologies. Herein, hybrid amorphous/crystalline FeCoNi layered double hydroxide (LDH)-supported single Ru atoms (Ru SAs/AC-FeCoNi) are developed for enabling a highly efficient electrocatalytic OER. The amorphous outer layer in Ru SAs/AC-FeCoNi is composed of abundant defect sites and unsaturated coordination sites, which can serve as anchoring sites to stabilize single Ru atoms. The crystalline inner has a highly symmetric rigid structure, thereby strengthening the stability of support for a long-lasting OER. The synergistic effects endow this hybrid catalyst with extremely low overpotential (205 mV at 10 mA cm(-2)). Density functional theory calculation indicates that single Ru atoms stabilized by hybrid amorphous/crystalline FeCoNi LDH facilitate the formation of Ru-O* (rate-determining step), thus accelerating the OER process.

Automated summary

Hybrid amorphous/crystalline FeCoNi LDH-supported single Ru atoms catalysts exhibit highly efficient oxygen evolution reaction performance with extremely low overpotential, attributed to the synergistic effects of abundant defect sites, unsaturated coordination sites, and highly symmetric rigid structure providing stability for long-lasting OER.