Electron–phonon coupling and coherent energy superposition induce spin-sensitive orbital degeneracy for enhanced acidic water oxidation

Yanfeng Shi, Lupeng Wang, Miao Liu, Zuozheng Xu, Peilin Huang, Lizhe Liu (lzliu@nju.edu.cn) and Yuanhong Xu (yhxu@qdu.edu.cn)
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Yanfeng Shi: Qingdao University
Lupeng Wang: Qingdao University
Miao Liu: Qingdao University
Zuozheng Xu: Nanjing University
Peilin Huang: Nanjing University
Lizhe Liu: Nanjing University
Yuanhong Xu: Qingdao University

Nature Communications, 2025, vol. 16, issue 1, 1-13

Abstract: Abstract The development of acid-stable water oxidation electrocatalysts is crucial for high-performance energy conversion devices. Different from traditional nanostructuring, here we employ an innovative microwave-mediated electron–phonon coupling technique to assemble specific Ru atomic patterns (instead of random Ru-particle depositions) on Mn0.99Cr0.01O2 surfaces (RuMW-Mn1-xCrxO2) in RuCl3 solution because hydrated Ru-ion complexes can be uniformly activated to replace some Mn sites at nearby Cr-dopants through microwave-triggered energy coherent superposition with molecular rotations and collisions. This selective rearrangement in RuMW-Mn1-xCrxO2 with particular spin-differentiated polarizations can induce localized spin domain inversion from reversed to parallel direction, which makes RuMW-Mn1-xCrxO2 demonstrate a high current density of 1.0 A cm−2 at 1.88 V and over 300 h of stability in a proton exchange membrane water electrolyzer. The cost per gallon of gasoline equivalent of the hydrogen produced is only 43% of the 2026 target set by the U.S. Department of Energy, underscoring the economic significance of this nanotechnology.

Date: 2025
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-56315-w

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