Catalysis

Oxygen evolution

Adsorption

Electrochemistry

Photochemistry

Materials science

Inorganic chemistry

Electrocatalyst

Physical chemistry

Organic chemistry

Oxygen

Ruthenium

Chemistry

Electrode

Electrolyte

Overpotential

Nature Communications

Achieving active and stable oxygen evolution reaction (OER) in acid media based on single-atom catalysts is highly promising for cost-effective and sustainable energy supply in proton electrolyte membrane electrolyzers. Here, we report an atomically dispersed Ru 1 -N 4 site anchored on nitrogen-carbon support (Ru-N-C) as an efficient and durable electrocatalyst for acidic OER. The single-atom Ru-N-C catalyst delivers an exceptionally intrinsic activity, reaching a mass activity as high as 3571 A g metal −1 and turnover frequency of 3348 O 2 h −1 with a low overpotential of 267 mV at a current density of 10 mA cm −2 . The catalyst shows no evident deactivation or decomposition after 30-hour operation in acidic environment. Operando synchrotron radiation X-ray absorption spectroscopy and infrared spectroscopy identify the dynamic adsorption of single oxygen atom on Ru site under working potentials, and theoretical calculations demonstrate that the O-Ru 1 -N 4 site is responsible for the high OER activity and stability.

Dynamic oxygen adsorption on single-atomic Ruthenium catalyst with high performance for acidic oxygen evolution reaction