Abstract
It is crucially important and highly desirable, albeit remaining a grand challenge, to develop Pt-alternative electrocatalyst toward hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and hydrogen oxidation reaction (HOR) that are indispensable for a variety of electrochemical energy initiatives. We herein reported a simple synthesis recipe to prepare nanohybrids of RuS2 quantum dots with abundant sulfur vacancies (Vs-RuS2QDs) supported on reduced graphene oxide (Vs-RuS2QDs/rGO), which exhibits impressively high electrocatalytic activity and durability toward HER in acidic medium and HOR in alkaline electrolyte, respectively, as evidenced by outperforming the state-of-the-art Pt/C catalysts with significantly promoting the catalytic kinetics. Comprehensive studies, by coupling systematic electrochemical investigation with density functional theory (DFT) calculation, signify that the synergistic effects of S vacancies, quantum size and robust 2D dimensional structure contribute to an optimized electronic structure for hydrogen bonding, leading to highly attractive catalytic performance as hydrogen electrocatalysts. We demonstrate the Vs-RuS2QDs/rGO hybrids perform superior performance to the commercial Pt/C as the bifunctional electrode in a proof-of-concept electrochemical device that can electrochemically harvest neutralization energy upon managing waste acid and alkali.
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