Deep Reconstruction of RuPdOx Hollow Nanofibers for Efficient Electrocatalytic Hydrazine Oxidation‐Assisted Hydrogen Production

Manipulating the reconstruction of a heterostructured material is highly desirable to achieve high-performance electrocatalytic performance. Here, an in situ reconstruction of RuPdOx hollow nanofibers (HNFs) is presented to generate RuO2/Pd from both the electrochemical and chemical reconstruction processes. The reconstructed catalyst is highly efficient for both hydrazine oxidation reaction (HzOR) and hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) at industrial-grade current densities, significantly outperforming the benchmark Pt/C catalyst. Furthermore, it maintains a record-breaking durability of 500 h for HzOR at 1 A cm-2. Remarkably, with the catalyst as electrodes, a two-electrode overall hydrazine splitting (OHzS) cell is constructed, which requires only 0.263 kWh of electricity to produce 1 m3 H2 at 100 mA cm-2, significantly lower than that in overall water splitting (OWS) system (4.286 kWh m-3 H2), exhibiting an exceptional energy-saving H2 production property. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations reveal an efficient electron transfer from Pd to RuO2 at their interface from the reconstruction of RuPdOx HNFs, which regulates the local electronic environment of atoms, modulates the adsorption and desorption for intermediates, and reduces the energy barriers for enhancing the electrocatalytic process. This study offers a robust reconstruction strategy for the design of electrocatalysts that exhibit superior efficiency in energy conversion devices.