Prof. Kang Yijin’s team, from the College of Chemical Engineering at Sichuan University (SCU), collaborating with Prof. William A. Goddard’s team, from California Institute of Technology (Caltech), jointly published a science paper entitled 'Tantalum-Stabilized Ruthenium Oxide Electrocatalysts for Industrial Water Electrolysis'.
Using ruthenium oxide (RuO2) single-crystal thin-film model catalysts with various crystalline orientations, Prof. Kang Yijin’s team provided an atomic-scale explanation of the surface dissolution/reconstruction of RuO2 catalysts. They discovered that under oxygen evolution reaction (OER) conditions, RuO2 electrocatalysts undergoes a rapid, structure-dependent surface corrosion. The process involves the dissolution of high-valent Ru species and the nanoscale detachment of RuO2 clusters from the surface, which triggers surface reconstruction of RuO2 catalysts and ultimately leads to the failure of the electrocatalysts in a relatively short period.
Both model trials and theoretical calculations indicated that Tantalum (Ta) doping can effectively inhibit the failure process. Based on these findings, the team designed and synthesized a Ta0.1Ru0.9O2 anode catalyst.
The single-crystal model catalysis experiment provides new insights and guidance for the design of stable Ru-based OER catalysts. By integrating model catalysis with theoretical calculations, this research contributes a methodological reference for the development of stable non-Ir anode catalysts, especially Ru-based ones. Meanwhile, the findings have significantly broadened the application prospects of Ru-based proton exchange membrane water electrolysis (PEM-WE).
Zhang Jiahao (a Ph.D student from SCU College of Chemical Engineering), Fu Xianbiao (an Assistant Professor from the Materials Science and Engineering, College of Design and Engineering, National University of Singapore), and Dr. Kwon Soonho (a Scientific Researcher of Caltech) are co-first authors of this paper. Prof. Kang and Prof. Goddard both serve as corresponding authors. SCU College of Chemical Engineering is the first unit.
