Citation: Li Luo, Xiaohong Cheng, Qi Wu. Ru-modified NiO electrocatalysts for HER: Lower energy barriers and prolonged stability[J]. Chinese Chemical Letters, ;2026, 37(1): 111308. doi: 10.1016/j.cclet.2025.111308 shu

Ru-modified NiO electrocatalysts for HER: Lower energy barriers and prolonged stability

Li Luo ^{a, b} ,
Xiaohong Cheng ^{c, *,} ,
Qi Wu ^{a, *,}

a.
State Key Laboratory of New Textile Materials and Advanced Processing Technologies, Wuhan Textile University, Wuhan 430200, China
b.
College of Physical Science and Technology, Central China Normal University, Wuhan 430079, China
c.
Hubei Key Laboratory of Low Dimensional Optoelectronic Materials and Devices, Hubei University of Arts and Science, Xiangyang 441053, China

chengxiaohong0807@126.com

wuqi2011@whu.edu.cn

Received Date: 10 February 2025
Revised Date: 27 April 2025
Accepted Date: 13 May 2025
Available Online: 13 May 2025

Figures(4)

The hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) is a key process in electrocatalytic water splitting for hydrogen production, yet it is often limited by sluggish H*-OH adsorption and H* binding kinetics. We obtained Ru-modified NiO nanoparticles (Ru-NiO/NF) with enhanced HER properties by substituting ruthenium (Ru) for Ni atoms in the NiO (200) crystalline facets on nickel foam by a one-step electrodeposition technique. This novel catalyst exhibits a significantly reduced H*-OH adsorption energy and improved kinetics, with an overpotential of only 60 mV at 10 mA/cm² and a Tafel slope of 26.19 mV/dec. The Ru-NiO/NF maintains its activity for over 115 h, outperforming NiO/NF by reducing the overpotential by 177 mV. DFT calculations confirm that the addition of Ru to NiO enhances the HER kinetics by modifying the electronic structure, optimizing the surface chemistry, stabilizing the intermediates, lowering the energy barriers, and facilitating efficient charge transfer through a robust three-dimensional structure, resulting in a change in the rate-limiting step and a significant reduction in the Gibbs free energy. This study presents a highly efficient HER catalyst and offers insights into designing advanced NiO-based electrocatalysts by reducing reaction energy barriers.
- Ru-modified NiO,
- One-step electrodeposition,
- HER,
- DFT calculations,
- 3D nanoparticles
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