Dopant-enabled RuO2(110)-dominant architecture for boosting sustainable acidic oxygen evolution

doi:10.1016/S1872-2067(26)65270-9

Chinese Journal of Catalysis ›› 2027, Vol. 92: 182-191.DOI: 10.1016/S1872-2067(26)65270-9

• Articles • Previous Articles Next Articles

Dopant-enabled RuO₂(110)-dominant architecture for boosting sustainable acidic oxygen evolution

Piracha Sanwal^a^,^d, Jingjing Zhang^b^,^*(), Rashid Mehmood^a, Linkun Sun^b, Xu Hu^c, Wen Dai^a^,^*(), Gao Li^b^,^*()

^a Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Dalian 116023, Liaoning, China
^b School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Inner Mongolia Normal University, Hohhot 010022, Inner Mongolia, China
^c School of Materials Science and Engineering, Institute of New Energy Material Chemistry, Renewable Energy Conversion and Storage Centre (ReCast), Key Laboratory of Advanced Energy Materials Chemistry (Ministry of Education), Nankai University, Tianjin 300350, China
^d University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China

Received:2026-04-24 Accepted:2026-07-03 Online:2027-01-02 Published:2026-10-30
Contact: *E-mail: daiwen@dicp.ac.cn (W. Dai),
li_gao82@yeah.net (G. Li),
jjzhang21111@163.com (J. Zhang).
About author:First author contact:CRediT authorship contribution statement
Piracha Sanwal: Writing-original draft, Visualization, Supervision, Formal analysis. Jingjing Zhang: Visualization, Validation, Software, Writing-original draft. Rashid Mehmood: Visualization, Software. Linkun Sun: Visualization, Validation. Xu Hu: Software, Funding acquisition, Writing-review &editing. Wen Dai: Visualization, Validation, Funding acquisition, Writing-review &editing. Gao Li: Writing-review &editing, Supervision, Project administration, Conceptualization.
Supported by:
National Natural Science Foundation of China(223B2305);Project for the Cultivation of Science and Technology Leading Talent Teams in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region;the Implementation Plan for Scientific and Technological Innovation in Key Areas of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region(NMGLLY2025-01)

Abstract

Abstract:

Although Ru-based catalysts have been widely exploited in oxygen evolution reaction (OER), they still face significant challenges in simultaneously achieving high activity and long-term stability. Here, we propose a catalyst design strategy that engineers phases beyond conventional atomic ordering by constructing a RuO₂(110)-dominated architecture (CeCo-RuO₂). The resulting catalyst exhibits an overpotential of 198 mV@10 mA cm^-2 and exceptional durability, operating stably for over 500 h at a current density of 100 mA cm^-2 with a minimal current decay rate of 0.04 mV h^-1. The engineered RuO₂phase architecture and atomic arrangement induce electronic structure reconfiguration, thereby optimizing active-site density and structural robustness. In-situ characterization combined with density functional theory calculations reveal that CeCo-RuO₂ preferentially follows adsorbate evolution mechanism with reduced energy barriers, thereby suppressing lattice oxygen participation and mitigating structural instability. In all, we demonstrate dopant-enabled phase confinement as an effective design strategy for developing active and durable OER catalysts.

Key words: RuO₂(110), Acidic oxygen evolution, Ce/Co-dopant, Adsorbate evolution mechanism, Density functional theory

Piracha Sanwal, Jingjing Zhang, Rashid Mehmood, Linkun Sun, Xu Hu, Wen Dai, Gao Li. Dopant-enabled RuO₂(110)-dominant architecture for boosting sustainable acidic oxygen evolution[J]. Chinese Journal of Catalysis, 2027, 92: 182-191.

×
share this article

Add to citation manager EndNote|Ris|BibTeX

URL: https://www.cjcatal.com/EN/10.1016/S1872-2067(26)65270-9

https://www.cjcatal.com/EN/Y2027/V92/I1/182

Figures/Tables 8

Fig. 1. Schematic synthesis (a), high-resolution STEM image (b) with elemental mappings (c), and elemental line-scan profile (d) of CeCo-RuO2.

Fig. 2. The physical characterization of pristine CeCo-RuO2 and RuO2: powder XRD patterns (a), XPS spectra (Ce 3d (b) and Co 2p (c)), and Raman spectra (d).

Fig. 3. LSV curves (a) and overpotential statistics (b) at 10 and 100 mA cm-2 of RuO2 and CeCo-RuO2. Tafel (c) and Nyquist plots (d). (e) Durability of CeCo-RuO2 at 100 and 200 mA cm-2. (f) Cdl plots. (g) Benchmark comparison of CeCo-RuO2 with recently reported acidic OER catalysts.

Fig. 4. HR-STEM image (a) with EDS mapping (b) and XRD patterns (c) of utilized CeCo-RuO2 after OER test.

Fig. 5. AFM images of pristine utilized CeCo-RuO2 (a) and after OER (b‒d) at different regions

Fig. 6. The spectroscopic comparison of pristine and utilized CeCo-RuO2: Ru 3p (a) and O 1s (b) XPS, Raman (c), and EPR (d) spectra.

Fig. 7. In-situ FTIR spectra of CeCo-RuO2 (a) and RuO2 (d) recorded from 0.9 to 1.8 V vs. RHE in the 800-1800 cm-1 region. (b) Comparison of FTIR spectra at selected potentials. (c) In-situ FTIR spectra of CeCo-RuO2 in the O-H stretching region (3000-4000 cm-1).

Fig. 8. (a,b) Structural models of Ce-RuO2(110) and amorphous RuO2. (c) Representative slab model of CeCo-RuO2. (d) Schematic illustration of the AEM pathway. Calculated OER free-energy diagrams (e) and chloride adsorption energies (f) for CeCo-RuO2(110) and amorphous RuO2.

References

[1]	Q. Zeng, Y. Zhang, S. M. Jadhav, Y. Wang, J. Zhang, D. Xiao, G. Li, Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., 2026, 65, e23620.
[2]	Q. Xiong, Q. Shi, B. Wang, A. Baiker, G. Li, Chin. J. Catal., 2025, 75, 164-179.
[3]	S. Piracha, Y. Zhang, A. Raza, G. Li, Chem. Commun., 2024, 60, 9918-9929.
[4]	X. Cui, P. Ren, C. Ma, J. Zhao, R. Chen, S. Chen, N. P. Rajan, H. Li, L. Yu, Z. Tian, D. Deng, Adv. Mater., 2020, 32, 1908126.
[5]	J. Zhang, S. Guo, T. Li, Y. Zhang, Q. Zeng, P. Sanwal, L. Xu, G. Li, Appl. Catal. B, 2025, 377, 125518.
[6]	Y. Lin, Z. Tian, L. Zhang, J. Ma, Z. Jiang, B. J. Deibert, R. Ge, L. Chen, Nat. Commun., 2019, 10, 162.
[7]	I. Ahmad, S. Wang, M. Q. Alfaifi, Y. I. Alrashed, F. M. Albaqi, G. Li, Chin. J. Catal., 2026, 90, 82-116.
[8]	J. Zhang, L. Xu, X. Yang, S. Guo, Y. Zhang, Y. Zhao, G. Wu, G. Li, Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., 2024, 63, e202405641.
[9]	D. O. Atmaca, D. Düzenli, M. O. Ozbek, I. Onal, Appl. Surf. Sci., 2016, 385, 99-105.
[10]	J. Zhang, F. K. Busari, Y. Zhang, S. Guo, Y. Zhao, B. Wang, Q. Zeng, Z. Zhao, G. Li, Nano Res. Energy, 2025, 4, e9120140.
[11]	R. R. Rao, M. J. Kolb, L. Giordano, A. F. Pedersen, Y. Katayama, J. Hwang, A. Mehta, H. You, J. R. Lunger, H. Zhou, N. B. Halck, T. Vegge, I. Chorkendorff, I. E. L. Stephens, Y. Shao-Horn, Nat. Catal., 2020, 3, 516-525.
[12]	N. Deka, T. E. Jones, L. J. Falling, L.-E. Sandoval-Diaz, T. Lunkenbein, J.-J. Velasco-Velez, T.-S. Chan, C.-H. Chuang, A. Knop-Gericke, R. V. Mom, ACS Catal., 2023, 13, 7488-7498.
[13]	B. Liu, Y. Zhao, Y. Wu, Y. Wen, Z. Liu, P. Wang, J. Shu, T. Yi, Catal. Rev. Sci. Eng., 2025, DOI: 10.1080/01614940.2025.2556094.
[14]	T.-W. Chen, S. Sengodan, Int. J. Hydrogen Energy, 2024, 89, 940-951.
[15]	K. S. Exner, J. Anton, T. Jacob, H. Over, Electrochim. Acta, 2014, 120, 460-466.
[16]	H. Ding, H. Liu, W. Chu, C. Wu, Y. Xie, Chem. Rev., 2021, 121, 13174-13212.
[17]	H. Zhong, Q. Zhang, J. Yu, X. Zhang, C. Wu, Y. Ma, H. An, H. Wang, J. Zhang, X. Wang, J. Xue, Adv. Energy Mater., 2023, 13, 2301391.
[18]	Y. Zeng, M. Zhao, Z. Huang, W. Zhu, J. Zheng, Q. Jiang, Z. Wang, H. Liang, Adv. Energy Mater., 2022, 12, 2201713.
[19]	N. T. T. Thao, J. U. Jang, A. K. Nayak, H. Han, Small Sci., 2024, 4, 2300109.
[20]	W. Zheng, Y. Zhao, K. Jiang, F. Xie, L. Meng, S. Gao, J. Li, J. Lan, M. Luo, L. Liu, Y. Tan, Nat. Commun., 2025, 16, 6716.
[21]	G. Kresse, J. Furthmüller, Comput. Mater. Sci., 1996, 6, 15-50.
[22]	J. P. Perdew, K. Burke, M. Ernzerhof, Phys. Rev. Lett., 1996, 77, 3865-3868.
[23]	S. Grimme, J. Antony, S. Ehrlich, H. Krieg, J. Chem. Phys., 2010, 132, 154104.
[24]	V. Wang, N. Xu, J.-C. Liu, G. Tang, W.-T. Geng, Comput. Phys. Commun., 2021, 267, 108033.
[25]	J. K. Nørskov, J. Rossmeisl, A. Logadottir, L. Lindqvist, J. R. Kitchin, T. Bligaard, H. Jónsson, J. Phys. Chem. B, 2004, 108, 17886-17892.
[26]	C. Ma, N. Zhang, D. Wang, J. Ren, T. Jiang, T. Liu, A. A. Zverko, H. Zhong, X. Zhang, J. Mater. Chem. A, 2025, 13, 39831-39840.
[27]	Y. Shen, X.-L. Zhang, M.-R. Qu, J. Ma, S. Zhu, Y.-L. Min, M.-R. Gao, S.-H. Yu, Nat. Commun., 2024, 15, 7861.
[28]	W. Shen, D. Mao, Z. Luo, J. Yu, RSC Adv., 2017, 7, 27689-27698.
[29]	S. Biswas, N. Naushad, S. Kalyani, V. B. Kamble, ACS Mater. Au, 2024, 4, 308-323.
[30]	D. P. Jaihindh, S.-B. Lu, T.-T. Chang, Y.-F. Lin, K. Shukla, T. M. Chang, M. Sone, C.-Y. Chen, ACS Appl. Nano Mater., 2025, 8, 17154-17164.
[31]	P. Sanwal, J. Zhang, H.-D. Wang, Z. U. D. Babar, Y. Zhang, X. Peng, G. Li, Nano Res., 2026, 19, 94908133.
[32]	L. Wan, H. Wang, B. Zeng, W. Wang, X. Liu, L. Cao, Y. Hu, Z. Cui, B. Dong, Energy Environ. Sci., 2025, 18, 4262-4275.
[33]	D. R. Jones, S. Iqbal, S. A. Kondrat, G. M. Lari, P. J. Miedziak, D. J. Morgan, S. F. Parker, G. J. Hutchings, Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2016, 18, 17259-17264.
[34]	C. Fan, X. Gao, P. Tang, Q. Wang, B. Li, Adv. Sci., 2025, 12, 2410784.
[35]	L. Meng, V. Teixeira, M. Dos Santos, Thin Solid Films, 2003, 442, 93-97.
[36]	J. Zhang, R. Lin, Y. Zhao, H. Wang, S. Liu, X. Cai, ACS Sustainable Chem. Eng., 2023, 11, 9489-9497.
[37]	Z. Qin, C. Chi, H. Li, W. Jian, J. Zhang, G. Li, Polyoxometalates, 2026, 5, 9140144.
[38]	J. Som, A. J. Reese, L. Mitrovic, R. S. Kim, S. McBride, S. S. Nalawade, S. Aravamudhan, G. Hautier, J. Yano, D. G. Schlom, J. Suntivich, J. Am. Chem. Soc., 2025, 147, 37115-37122.
[39]	Y. Wang, R. Yang, Y. Ding, B. Zhang, H. Li, B. Bai, M. Li, Y. Cui, J. Xiao, Z.-S. Wu, Nat. Commun., 2023, 14, 1412.
[40]	W. Cheng, X. Zhao, H. Su, F. Tang, W. Che, H. Zhang, Q. Liu, Nat. Energy, 2019, 4, 115-122.
[41]	Z.-F. Huang, J. Song, Y. Du, S. Xi, S. Dou, J. M. V. Nsanzimana, C. Wang, Z. J. Xu, X. Wang, Nat. Energy, 2019, 4, 329-338.
[42]	J. T. Mefford, X. Rong, A. M. Abakumov, W. G. Hardin, S. Dai, A. M. Kolpak, K. P. Johnston, K. J. Stevenson, Nat. Commun., 2016, 7, 11053.
[43]	Z.-F. Huang, S. Xi, J. Song, S. Dou, X. Li, Y. Du, C. Diao, Z. J. Xu, X. Wang, Nat. Commun., 2021, 12, 3992.
[44]	J. Zhang, Y. Jin, Z. Xu, Y. Du, Y. Xu, X. Ren, B. Xue, D. Liu, Y. Zhu, F. Li, ACS Sustainable Chem. Eng., 2025, 13, 15177-15188.
[45]	G. Kresse, J. Furthmüller, Phys. Rev. B, 1996, 54, 11169-11186.
[46]	P. E. Blöchl, Phys. Rev. B, 1994, 50, 17953-17979.

Dopant-enabled RuO₂(110)-dominant architecture for boosting sustainable acidic oxygen evolution

RichHTML

PDF (PC)

Knowledge

Supporting Information

Abstract

Cite this article

share this article

share this article

Figures/Tables 8

References

Related Articles 15

Recommended Articles

Metrics

[1]	Yanyan Chen, Sen Wang, Shanhui Zhu, He Wang, Mei Dong, Zhangfeng Qin, Jianguo Wang, Weibin Fan. Mechanistic switch in methane combustion on PdOₓ catalysts mediated by oxygen vacancies [J]. Chinese Journal of Catalysis, 2027, 92(1): 387-396.
[2]	Qi Tang, Bomiao Wang, Chongtai Wang, DaoXiong Wu, Ziming Cheng, Huimin Han, Leiyun Han, Huaxia Chen, Yingjie Hua. The regulation of interface structure improves the performance of the Mo_xO_y/Co₃O₄ electrocatalytic oxygen evolution reaction in acidic media [J]. Chinese Journal of Catalysis, 2026, 88(9): 295-306.
[3]	Miao Wang, Tianyu Shen, Heng Zhou, Shuaikang Yang, Fengkun Hao, Chaohui Wang, Mohan Kumar, Zuoxiu Tie, Shuangming Chen, Zhanxi Fan, Zhong Jin. Direct electrosynthesis of ammonia from nitrate reduction using atomically precise carbonyl-rich metal clusters in neutral media [J]. Chinese Journal of Catalysis, 2026, 88(9): 259-268.
[4]	Jiaxiang Qin, Songpei Zhang, Xingju Li, Xintai Chen, Jia Zhao, Xiaoling Mou, Xiangen Song, Li Yan, Ronghe Lin, Yunjie Ding. Decoding structure-selectivity interplay in Pd-Ag nanocatalysts for butadiene semi-hydrogenation [J]. Chinese Journal of Catalysis, 2026, 87(8): 342-352.
[5]	Zhaochun He, Chunli Liu, Yonghua Liu, Tao Wang. Boosting homogeneous ammonia synthesis by balancing N≡N activation and N-H formation [J]. Chinese Journal of Catalysis, 2026, 87(8): 316-326.
[6]	Yatai Zhou, Chengcheng Yuan, Wei Xia, Jun Wang, Xiaofeng Zhu, Yong Zhang, Bicheng Zhu, Jiaguo Yu. Synergistic optimization of interfacial electron transfer and surface hydrogen adsorption in a CdS/ZnO S-scheme heterojunction by site-specific doping: A DFT study [J]. Chinese Journal of Catalysis, 2026, 86(7): 327-337.
[7]	Qiurong Wang, Fozia Sultana, Renkun Li, Yan Fang, Selvi Mushina, Mingwu Tan, Tongtong Li, Renhong Li. Chromium-driven lattice oxygen activation in high-entropy oxide for efficient oxygen evolution reaction [J]. Chinese Journal of Catalysis, 2026, 86(7): 277-289.
[8]	Liqing Wu, Wenxia Huang, Bingbing Zhao, Ping Cai, Wei Luo. Surface anions-mediated dynamic interfacial free water enriched microenvironment on RuO₂ for efficient acidic oxygen evolution [J]. Chinese Journal of Catalysis, 2026, 85(6): 237-246.
[9]	Lanlan Chen, Li Sheng, Yanan Zhou, Qiquan Luo, Zhenyu Li, Wenhua Zhang, Jinlong Yang. Unraveling the superiority of Ni₁-MoS₂ single-atom catalyst in CO₂ hydrogenation to methanol: A DFT combined microkinetic study [J]. Chinese Journal of Catalysis, 2026, 85(6): 143-152.
[10]	Yihan Ye, Yilun Ding, Tao Peng, Cheng Liu, Xinzhe Li, Yongzhi Zhao, Jianping Xiao, Feng Jiao, Xiulian Pan. Role of accumulated carbonaceous species on dynamic confinement in zeolite catalysis [J]. Chinese Journal of Catalysis, 2026, 84(5): 74-79.
[11]	Runlin Ma, Xiandi Ma, Hejing Wang, Xu Zhang, Yongzheng Fang, Menggai Jiao, Zhen Zhou. Bifunctional electrocatalysis of hydrazine oxidation and hydrogen evolution reactions on 2D CoX (X = P, S, As, Se): Insights from DFT calculations [J]. Chinese Journal of Catalysis, 2026, 82(3): 115-124.
[12]	Yu Tang, Yang Chen, Kerun Chen, Edmund Qi, Xiaoyang Liu, Haiyan Lu, Yu Gao. Cu-Mo synergistic doping of metal-organic framework double-shelled hollow nanospheres: Surface reconstruction activates adsorbate evolution and lattice oxygen mechanisms [J]. Chinese Journal of Catalysis, 2026, 81(2): 159-171.
[13]	Kexin Ma, Mifeng Xue, Yuhan Wang, Maohong Fan, Lixia Ling, Riguang Zhang. Unraveling the surface structural evolution and single-atom doping effect in CO₂-assisted ethane dehydrogenation over TiO₂-based catalysts [J]. Chinese Journal of Catalysis, 2026, 91(12): 147-162.
[14]	Xiao-Li Liang, Zhao-Yu Wang, Shi-Lin Yan, Ting-Ting Yin, Wei Zhang, Hao Zhang, Xiaohong Liu, Liu-Bin Zhao. Machine learning-accelerated electrocatalytic microkinetic model for global reaction network simulation of CO₂ reduction reaction [J]. Chinese Journal of Catalysis, 2026, 91(12): 163-175.
[15]	Mengrong Li, Bram D. Bruininks, Ivo A. W. Filot, Emiel J. M. Hensen. Balancing lattice oxygen activation and surface reoxidation in lanthanide-Zn co-doped Pd/CeO₂ single-atom catalysts for CO oxidation [J]. Chinese Journal of Catalysis, 2026, 91(12): 396-411.