Tuning the electronic structure of a metal-organic framework for an efficient oxygen evolution reaction by introducing minor atomically dispersed ruthenium

The establishment of efficient oxygen evolution electrocatalysts is of great value but also challenging. Herein, a durable metal-organic framework (MOF) with minor atomically dispersed ruthenium and an optimized electronic structure is constructed as an efficient electrocatalyst. Significantly, the obtained NiRu0.08-MOF with doping Ru only needs an overpotential of 187 mV at 10 mA cm(-2) with a Tafel slop of 40 mV dec(-1) in 0.1 M KOH for the oxygen evolution reaction, and can work continuously for more than 300 h. Ultrahigh Ru mass activity is achieved, reaching 56.7 A g(Ru)(-1) at an overpotential of 200 mV, which is 36 times higher than that of commercial RuO2. X-ray adsorption spectroscopy and density function theory calculations reveal that atomically dispersed ruthenium on metal sites in MOFs is expected to optimize the electronic structure of nickel sites, thus improving the conductivity of the catalyst and optimizing the adsorption energy of intermediates, resulting in significant optimization of electrocatalytic performance. This study could provide a new avenue for the design of efficient and stable MOF electrocatalysts.