Surface Engineered Ru_(2)Ni Multilayer Nanosheets for Hydrogen Oxidation Catalysis

The hydrogen oxidation reaction(HOR)in alkaline conditions is of great importance for the application of anion exchange membrane fuel cells(AEMFCs).However,the electrocatalysts for alkaline HOR generally suffer from the disadvantage of sluggish kinetics.Herein,we have fabricated Ru2Ni multilayered nanosheets(Ru2Ni MLNSs)in the layer-by-layer manner and engineered the surface properties via postannealing for efficient alkaline HOR.Detailed investigations reveal that such annealing at different temperatures can alter the surface properties of Ru2Ni MLNSs and thus regulate their adsorption abilities toward*H and*OH.In particular,the optimal catalyst exhibits a mass activity of 4.34 A mgRu−1 at an overpotential of 50 mV,which is 18.1 and 13.2 times higher than those of Ru/C(0.24 A mgRu−1)and Pt/C(0.33 A mgPt−1),respectively.Theoretical calculations indicate that the presence of surface O atoms can facilitate the HOR activity while the excessive coverage of O atoms on Ru2Ni surface leads to the strengthened H binding and the decay of HOR activity.This work not only provides an efficient catalyst for alkaline HOR,but it also may shed new light on the design of high-performance catalysts for electrocatalysis and beyond.We have fabricated Ru2Ni multilayer nanosheets(Ru2Ni MLNSs)and realized the surface engineering via an annealing process.Detailed investigations show that such surface engineering can regulate the surface properties and thus promote the alkaline HOR activity.Consequently,the optimal catalyst exhibits a much higher activity than those of commercial Ru/C and Pt/C and is a promising catalyst for alkaline HOR.