Orbital-level band gap engineering of RuO2 for enhanced acidic water oxidation

Xing Wang, Wei Pi, Zhaobing Li, Sheng Hu, Haifeng Bao (), Weilin Xu and Na Yao ()
Additional contact information
Xing Wang: Wuhan Textile University
Wei Pi: Wuhan Textile University
Zhaobing Li: Wuhan Textile University
Sheng Hu: Wuhan Textile University
Haifeng Bao: Wuhan Textile University
Weilin Xu: Wuhan Textile University
Na Yao: Wuhan Textile University

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

Abstract: Abstract Developing efficient and stable oxygen evolution reaction electrocatalysts under acidic conditions is crucial for advancing proton-exchange membrane water electrolysers commercialization. Here, we develop a representative strategy through p-orbital atoms (N, P, S, Se) doping in RuO2 to precisely regulate the lattice oxygen-mediated mechanism-oxygen vacancy site mechanism pathway. In situ and ex situ measurements along with theoretical calculations demonstrate that Se doping dynamically adjusts the band gap between the Ru-eg and O-p orbitals during the oxygen evolution reaction process. This modulation accelerates electron diffusion to the external circuit, promotes the lattice oxygen-mediated process, and enhances catalytic activity. Additionally, it facilitates electron feedback and stabilizes oxygen vacancies, thereby promoting the oxygen vacancy site mechanism process and enhancing catalytic stability. The resulting Se-RuOx catalyst achieves efficient proton-exchange membrane water electrolysers performance under industrial conditions with a minimal charge overpotential of 1.67 V to achieve a current density of 1 A cm−2 and maintain long-term cyclability for over 1000 h. This work presents a unique method for guiding the future development of high-performance metal oxide catalysts.

Date: 2025
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-025-60083-y Abstract (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nat:natcom:v:16:y:2025:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-025-60083-y

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.nature.com/ncomms/

DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-60083-y

Access Statistics for this article

Nature Communications is currently edited by Nathalie Le Bot, Enda Bergin and Fiona Gillespie

More articles in Nature Communications from Nature
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().