Phase engineering of black TiO2 supported Ru for hydrogen electrocatalysis

作者：Enze Li, Yuanzong Shen, Yu‐Hao Li, Yingxia Zong, Weiping Xiao, Guangrui Xu, Jinsong Wang, Hui Li, Tianyi Ma, Zexing Wu, Lei Wang · 发表于：Applied Catalysis B: Environmental · 年份：2025 · DOI：10.1016/j.apcatb.2025.126022 · 被引用次数：8 · 研究领域：Electrocatalysts for Energy Conversion、Catalytic Processes in Materials Science、Advanced Battery Materials and Technologies

For supported metal catalysts, phase engineering emerges as an effective route to elevate electrocatalytic efficacy. However, conventional phase regulation strategies based on thermal reduction often suffer from prolonged synthesis processes and tend to induce metal aggregation, which ultimately limits the exposure of active sites. Herein, an ultrafast microwave quasi-solid approach (90 s) is adopted to synthesize Ru nanoclusters embedded into black anatase TiO 2 lattice (Ru/TiO 2 -A) with abundant oxygen vacancy, and surface decorated Ru nanoparticles onto black rutile TiO 2 . Engineered lattice-embedded configurations and co-generated oxygen vacancies collectively dictate catalytic performance and structural durability. As an electrocatalyst for hydrogen-related reactions (HER/HOR), Ru/TiO 2 -A featuring Ru nanoclusters exhibits superior performance to Ru nanoclusters on black rutile TiO 2 (Ru/ TiO 2 -R) in alkaline electrolyte, demonstrating a lower overpotential (44 mV vs. 90 mV @ 10 mA cm⁻²) and higher mass activity (20.99 A mg -1 Ru vs. 6.71 Amg -1 Ru @ 100 mV). Support phase engineering enhances water dissociation kinetics and modulates adsorption-desorption equilibria of reactive intermediates. This work is expected to advance the catalytic systems and provide novel approach to rational prepare efficient electrocatalysts toward hydrogen electrode reactions. SYNOPSIS TOC Ru/TiO 2 -A exhibits excellent HER and HOR performance and high mass activity in 1 M KOH. The embed...