Dual-Functional Ru/Ni-B-P Electrocatalyst Toward Accelerated Water Electrolysis and High-Stability.

Abstract

Development of advanced electrocatalysts for the green hydrogen production by water electrolysis is an important task to reduce the climate and environmental issues as well as to meet the future energy demands. Herein, Ru/Ni-B-P sphere electrocatalyst is demonstrated by a combination of hydrothermal and soaking approaches, meeting the industrial requirement of low cell voltage with stable high-current operation. The Ru/Ni-B-P sphere catalyst demonstrates low overpotentials of 191 and 350mV at 300mAcm-2 with stable high current operation, ranking it as one of the best oxygen evolution reaction (OER) electrocatalysts. The bifunctional 2-E system demonstrates a low cell voltage of 2.49V at 2000mAcm-2 in 6mKOH at 60°C of harsh industrial operation condition. It also demonstrates outstanding stability with continuous 120h (5 days) CA operation at 1000mAcm-2. Further, the hybrid configuration of Ru/Ni-B-P || Pt/C being paired with the conventional benchmark electrode demonstrates a record low 2-E cell voltage of 2.40V at 2000mAcm-2 in 6mKOH and excellent stability at high current of 1500mAcm-2 under industrial operational condition.