Recent Advances of Ruthenium-Based Electrocatalysts for Industrial Water Electrolyzers

Hydrogen production by electrochemical water splitting is considered to be a key strategic energy technology, and proton exchange membrane water electrolyzers (PEMWEs) and anion exchange membrane water electrolyzers (AEMWEs) are ideal technologies for green hydrogen production in recent years. However, PEMWEs and AEMWEs lack low-cost and high-performance acidic oxygen evolution reaction (OER) and alkaline hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) electrocatalysts respectively, limiting their large-scale development. Recently, ruthenium (Ru)-based electrocatalysts have received a lot of attention because their activity is better than that of commercial catalysts and their price is more affordable, showing great potential in acidic OER and alkaline HER. However, there are still obstacles for Ru-based electrocatalysts in practical applications of industrial water electrolyzers, and regulatory strategies need to be developed to further optimize its performance. Herein, a comprehensive review is presented concerning it. First, its fundamental principles that focus the basic content of industrial water electrolyzers and the application potential of Ru-based electrocatalysts are discussed. Then, regulatory strategies of Ru-based electrocatalysts for PEMWEs and AEMWEs are summarized, providing a detailed analysis to elucidate their mechanisms, properties, and applications in industrial water electrolyzers. Finally, the outlooks for prospects and challenges in the future are proposed.