Building strong metal-support interaction between TiN and RuO2 for efficient acidic oxygen evolution reaction

Ruthenium-based catalysts have been proposed to potentially replace iridium-based catalysts in acidic oxygen evolution reaction (OER), however the limited long-term stability poses a significant challenge. In addressing this issue, this study successfully synthesizes RuO2 NPs/TiN electrocatalysts by depositing RuO2 nanoparticles (NPs) onto TiN nanotubes. The presence of TiN effectively promotes the dispersion of RuO2 NPs while concurrently mitigating their aggregation, consequently leading to a heightened exposure of active sites within the RuO2 NPs/TiN catalysts. Additionally, the electron transfer from Ru to Ti demonstrates the strong metal-support interactions between the RuO2 NPs and TiN, thereby enhancing the performance and stability of RuO2 NPs/TiN catalysts. The catalysts display a low overpotential of 220 mV at 10 mA cm−2 that is much lower than commercial RuO2 (280 mV), and experience a stable performance during 100 h of continuous test. Our research expands the spectrum of supported choices available for Ru-based catalysts in the realm of OER.