Ru–Co Pair Sites Catalyst Boosts the Energetics for the Oxygen Evolution Reaction
Publication Name
Angewandte Chemie - International Edition
Abstract
Manipulating the coordination environment of the active center via anion modulation to reveal tailored activity and selectivity has been widely achieved, especially for carbon-based single-atom site catalysts (SACs). However, tuning ligand fields of the active center by single-site metal cation regulation and identifying the effects on the resulting electronic configuration is seldom explored. Herein, we propose a single-site Ru cation coordination strategy to engineer the electronic properties by constructing a Ru/LiCoO2 SAC with atomically dispersed Ru−Co pair sites. Benefitting from the strong electronic coupling between Ru and Co sites, the catalyst possesses an enhanced electrical conductivity and achieves near-optimal oxygen adsorption energies. Therefore, the optimized catalyst delivers superior oxygen evolution reaction (OER) activity with low overpotential, the high mass activity of 1000 A goxide−1 at a small overpotential of 335 mV, and excellent long-term stability. It also exhibits rapid kinetics with superior rate capability and outstanding durability in a zinc–air battery.
Funding Number
YJ20200277
Funding Sponsor
China Postdoctoral Science Foundation