Chinese Journal of Catalysis

Chinese Journal of Catalysis ›› 2026, Vol. 84: 130-143.DOI: 10.1016/S1872-2067(26)65000-0

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Spatial confinement and nitrogenous defect anchoring synergistically enhance Ru nanoparticles catalyst performance for industrial current densities hydrogen evolution

Zijie Wana,1, Yuqi Yangb,c,1(), Zhenquan Wangb, Linrui Wub, Haipeng Zhangb,c, Qingfang Shib, Xiang Liub, Hanlin Yanga, Bohan Kanga, Quan Xue, Jiaqing Luoa(), Jian Liua,d()   

  1. a State Key Laboratory of Heavy Oil and Beijing Key Lab of Oil &Gas Optical Detection Technology, China University of Petroleum, Beijing 102249, China
    b Laboratory of Heavy Oil at Karamay, China University of Petroleum-Beijing at Karamay, Karamay 834000, Xinjiang, China
    c Karamay Hydrogen Energy Laboratory, Karamay 834000, Xinjiang, China
    d School of Petrochemical Engineering, Liaoning Petrochemical University, Fushun 113001, Liaoning, China
    e China University of Petroleum, Beijing 102249, China
  • Received:2025-09-05 Accepted:2025-11-16 Online:2026-05-18 Published:2026-04-16
  • Contact: *E-mail: yuqiyang@cupk.edu.cn (Y. Yang),
    luojiaqing@cupk.edu.cn (J. Luo),
    liujian@cup.edu.cn (J. Liu).
  • About author:1Contributed equally to this work.
  • Supported by:
    Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region Tianshan Talents(2022TSYCCX0057);Major Science and Technology Projects of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region(2024A01001-1);China Petroleum Science and Technology Innovation Fund(2024DQ02-0148);Research Team Program for Strategic Talents Recruitment through Case-by-Case Review(XZT3-3);Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region;Tianshan Innovation Team Program, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region(2022TSYCTD0002);Key R&D Program of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region(2022B01058-2);National Natural Science Foundation of China(52574069)

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Abstract:

ABSTRACT：Anion exchange membrane water electrolyzers (AEMWEs) are emerging as a sustainable platform for efficient hydrogen production. However, the sluggish hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) in alkaline media remains a major challenge, primarily due to the lack of highly active and durable non-Pt catalysts. Herein, development of a high-performance alkaline HER catalyst is achieved through a triple-synergy strategy that combines spatial confinement, nitrogenous defect anchoring, and electronic modulation. The catalyst consists of ultrafine ruthenium nanoparticles supported on a three-dimensional spherical porous N-doped carbon framework (Ru/3DSPNC), synthesized through a soft-template method followed by stepwise pyrolysis. The optimized Ru/3DSPNC exhibits an ultralow overpotential of 11.2 mV at 10 mA/cm2 in 1.0 mol/L KOH. When applied as the cathode in an AEMWE at 30 °C, it delivers a cell voltage of 1.9 V at 1 A/cm2, with less than 5.6% voltage degradation over 310 h, outperforming commercial Pt/C. The excellent catalytic activity and long-term durability could be attributed to that the micropore-mesopore hierarchical architecture and nitrogenous defect provide effective spatial confinement and strong chemical anchoring for highly homogeneously dispersion Ru nanoparticles, and substrate nitrogen doping induces favorable orientation of interfacial H2O for HER and generation of Ruδ+ site possessing optimized ΔGH*. This work presents a rational design strategy for advanced catalysts for the alkaline HER.

Key words: Alkaline hydrogen evolution reaction, Nitrogen-doped carbon, Spatial confinement, Nitrogenous defect anchoring, Anion exchange membrane water electrolysis device, Long-term durability