Strong metal-support interactions for high sintering resistance of Ru-based catalysts toward the HER and ORR

B, N co-doped carbon-supported small-sized Ru nanoparticles (RuBCN) were constructed by a facile ion exchange strategy using closo-[B₁₂H₁₂]^2- and Ru(bpy)₃²⁺ as the precursors. Benefitting from strong metal-support interactions caused by the synergistic coupling effect of co-dopants B and N, RuBCN exhibits improved sintering resistance and the Ru nanoparticles are stabilized at sub-3 nm at 900 °C. Besides, introducing B doping further increases the electron deficiency of Ru in RuBCN, which could weaken the interaction between Ru and H_ad species or O₂ adsorption. As a result, it exhibits impressive HER (η₁₀ = 20 mV) and ORR (E_1/2 = 0.76 V) catalytic performances, as well as outstanding stability, which are much higher than those of the single dopant counterpart.