Bold innovation of noble metal support system: Ru-RuO2/MXene@CC for efficient hydrogen evolution reaction in water electrolysis

Achieving efficient and environmentally sustainable energy conversion through the electrocatalytic hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) in alkaline media is a pressing goal. Here, we report a method to adjust the proportion and hydrophilicity of the heterointerface Ru-RuO2 loaded on the HER catalyst (Ru-RuO2/MXene@CC) by tuning the Ru element content. By adjusting the Ru content, the water contact angle of the catalyst can be reduced from 57.4 degrees to 25.5 degrees, resulting in improved hydrophilicity. When the Ru loading on Ru-RuO2/MXene@CC reaches 3 wt % (Ru species = 3%), the catalyst exhibits the best catalytic activity with a low overpotential of 43 mV at a current density of 10 mA cm-2 and an impressively low Tafel slope of 52.1 mV dec- 1. These results surpass the performance of most previously reported MXene-based catalysts, with a mass activity reaching 1751.11 mA & sdot;mg- 1. Furthermore, the Ru-RuO2/MXene@CC catalyst exhibited outstanding stability in alkaline electrolytes, showing no apparent decay during a 10-hour stability test at 10 mA cm-2. These findings underscore the industrial potential of Ru-RuO2/MXene@CC composites for sustainable green energy generation.