Dilute RuCo Alloy Synergizing Single Ru and Co Atoms as Efficient and CO-Resistant Anode Catalyst for Anion Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells

Zhibo Cui; Zhanghao Ren; Chao Ma; Bowen Chen; Guanzhen Chen; Ruihu Lu; Wei Zhu; Tao Gan; Ziyun Wang; Zhongbin Zhuang; Yunhu Han

doi:10.1002/anie.202404761

Dilute RuCo Alloy Synergizing Single Ru and Co Atoms as Efficient and CO-Resistant Anode Catalyst for Anion Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells

Angew Chem Int Ed Engl. 2024 Apr 25:e202404761. doi: 10.1002/anie.202404761. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Zhibo Cui¹, Zhanghao Ren², Chao Ma³, Bowen Chen⁴, Guanzhen Chen¹, Ruihu Lu², Wei Zhu⁴, Tao Gan⁵, Ziyun Wang², Zhongbin Zhuang⁴, Yunhu Han⁶

Affiliations

¹ Northwestern Polytechnical University, Institute of Flexible Electronics (IFE), Frontiers Science Center for Flexible Electronics, CHINA.
² The University of Auckland, School of Chemical Sciences, NEW ZEALAND.
³ Tsinghua University, Department of Chemistry, CHINA.
⁴ Beijing University of Chemical Technology, State Key Lab of Organic-Inorganic Composites, CHINA.
⁵ Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai institute of Applied Physics, CHINA.
⁶ Frontiers Science Center for Flexible Electronics,Xi'an Institute of Flexible Electronics, Northwestern Polytechnical University, 1 Dongxiang Road, Chang'an District, Xi'an Shaanxi,710129, P.R.China, CHINA.

PMID: 38664844
DOI: 10.1002/anie.202404761

Abstract

Ruthenium (Ru) is considered a promising candidate catalyst for alkaline hydroxide oxidation reaction (HOR) due to its hydrogen binding energy (HBE) like that of platinum (Pt) and its much higher oxygenophilicity than that of Pt. However, Ru still suffers from insufficient intrinsic activity and CO resistance, which hinders its widespread use in anion exchange membrane fuel cells (AEMFCs). Here, we report a hybrid catalyst (RuCo)NC+SAs/N-CNT consisting of dilute RuCo alloy nanoparticles and atomically single Ru and Co atoms on N-doped carbon nanotubes The catalyst exhibits a state-of-the-art activity with a high mass activity of 7.35 A mgRu-1. More importantly, when (RuCo)NC+SAs/N-CNT is used as an anode catalyst for AEMFCs, its peak power density reaches 1.98 W cm-2, which is one of the best AEMFCs properties of noble metal-based catalysts at present. Moreover, (RuCo)NC+SAs/N-CNT has superior long-time stability and CO resistance. The experimental and density functional theory (DFT) results demonstrate that the dilute alloying and monodecentralization of the exotic element Co greatly modulates the electronic structure of the host element Ru, thus optimizing the adsorption of H and OH and promoting the oxidation of CO on the catalyst surface, and then stimulates alkaline HOR activity and CO tolerance of the catalyst.

Keywords: Anion Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells, Hydrogen Oxidation Reaction, Anti-CO-Poisoning, Dilute Alloy, Synergistic Effect.