RuO2@IrO2/C Core-Shell Structure Catalyst for Efficient and Durable Acidic Oxygen Evolution

Abstract

Proton exchange membrane (PEM) water electrolysis for hydrogen production has a high current density and overall efficiency, and is a very promising hydrogen production strategy. However, its application is limited by the high anodic overpotential for oxygen evolution and the instability of catalysts. Therefore, anodic catalysts with a high activity and durability under acidic conditions need further research. Herein, we first synthesized the key intermediate Ru@Ir core-shell structures by controlling nanocrystals, then loaded them onto a carbon support and calcined to obtain a RuO2@IrO2/C core-shell nanocatalyst with a size smaller than 5 nm, whose activity exceeded that of commercial RuO2 and commercial IrO2. After a 200 h stability test, the catalyst did not show significant performance degradation or structural degeneration. Finally, the prepared catalyst was assembled into a PEM electrolyzer showing the same results as the three-electrode tests, demonstrating its potential for practical applications and providing new insights for designing nanocatalysts suitable for industrialized PEM water electrolysis to produce hydrogen