title: High Performance Electrocatalytic Reaction of Hydrogen and Oxygen on Ruthenium Nanoclusters.
abstract: The development of catalytic materials for the hydrogen oxidation, hydrogen evolution, oxygen reduction or oxygen evolution reactions with high reaction rates and low overpotentials are key goals for the development of renewable energy. We report here Ru(0) nanoclusters supported on nitrogen-doped graphene as high-performance multifunctional catalysts for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and oxygen reduction reaction (ORR), showing activities similar to that of commercial Pt/C in alkaline solution. For HER performance in alkaline media, sample Ru/NG-750 reaches 10 mA cm-2at an overpotential of 8 mV with a Tafel slope of 30 mV dec-1. The high HER performance in alkaline solution is advantageous because most catalysts for ORR and oxygen evolution reaction (OER) also prefer alkaline solution environment whereas degrade in acidic electrolytes. For ORR performance, Ru/NG effectively catalyzes the conversion of O2into OH-via a 4e process at a current density comparable to that of Pt/C. The unusual catalytic activities of Ru(0) nanoclusters reported here are important discoveries for the advancement of renewable energy conversion reactions.
authors.forename: Ruquan
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ye
authors.affiliation: National Renewable Energy Laboratory , Golden, Colorado 80401, United States.
authors.forename: Yuanyue
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Zhiwei
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Peng
authors.forename: Tuo
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Almaz S
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Jalilov
authors.forename: Boris I
authors.initials: BI
authors.lastname: Yakobson
authors.affiliation: National Renewable Energy Laboratory , Golden, Colorado 80401, United States.
authors.forename: Su-Huai
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Wei
authors.forename: James M
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-8479-9328
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Tour
keywords: electrocatalyst; hydrogen evolution reaction; hydrogen oxidation reaction; oxygen reduction reaction; ruthenium