Modulating electronic structure of metal-organic frameworks by introducing atomically dispersed Ru for efficient hydrogen evolution

Developing high-performance electrocatalysts toward hydrogen evolution reaction is important for clean and sustainable hydrogen energy, yet still challenging. Herein, we report a single-atom strategy to construct excellent metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) hydrogen evolution reaction electrocatalyst (NiRu_0.13-BDC) by introducing atomically dispersed Ru. Significantly, the obtained NiRu_0.13-BDC exhibits outstanding hydrogen evolution activity in all pH, especially with a low overpotential of 36 mV at a current density of 10 mA cm^-2 in 1 M phosphate buffered saline solution, which is comparable to commercial Pt/C. X-ray absorption fine structures and the density functional theory calculations reveal that introducing Ru single-atom can modulate electronic structure of metal center in the MOF, leading to the optimization of binding strength for H₂O and H*, and the enhancement of HER performance. This work establishes single-atom strategy as an efficient approach to modulate electronic structure of MOFs for catalyst design.