Strain heterogeneity in RuO2 for efficient acidic oxygen evolution reaction in proton exchange membrane water electrolysis

. These performance metrics highlight its potential for practical applications. Experiments and calculations analyses confirm that the bulk tensile strain effectively stabilizes the entire structure of electrocatalysts, while the regions of compressive strain are identified as highly active catalytic sites, where the weakened binding energy of oxo-intermediates improves the catalytic activity.