Accelerated Deprotonation Triggered by the Se–Ru–O Asymmetric Configuration Enables Acidic Oxygen Evolution

Abstract

Developing efficient and durable electrocatalysts toward the acidic oxygen evolution reaction is crucial for the advancement of renewable hydrogen energy technologies. Ruthenium dioxide stands out as one of the most promising acidic OER catalysts. However, the unsatisfactory stability of RuO2 and the sluggish proton-coupled electron transfer kinetics of OER hinder its practical application. Herein, we introduce Se doping to form a Se–Ru–O asymmetric configuration into RuO2 to tailor electron redistribution and achieve both high activity and stability. The obtained Se-RuO2 shows superior electrocatalytic activity with a small overpotential of 212 mV at 10 mA cm–2 and a long durability of 230 h. Electrochemical tests and density functional theory calculations demonstrate that Se-RuO2 exhibits enhanced deprotonation kinetics and optimized adsorption energy of reaction intermediates, thereby boosting OER activity. Morever, the electronic interactions mediated by the asymmetric Se–Ru–O bond diminish the covalency of Ru–O bonds and thus boost the stability of RuO2. This work offers a facile strategy for the development of high-performance catalysts incorporated with nonmetallic elements.