Recent Research Advances in Ruthenium-Based Electrocatalysts for Water Electrolysis Across the pH-Universal Conditions

Electrocatalytic water splitting including oxygen evolution reaction (OER) and hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), as a mild, green, and sustainable technology, is recognized as a great potential pathway to defeat the current environmental and energy-related crisis. Electrode materials resisting the corrosion of electrolytes in the full pH range are attracting the attention of the research community, which can adapt to more complicated conditions and significantly reduce expenditure. Accordingly, considerable efforts have been made to upgrade the availability of pH-universal electrode materials. Ruthenium-based materials with prominent activity, pH-universal window, cheaper price, etc. have been universally acknowledged to be the feasible alternative to platinum. Herein, the recent knowledge of the Ru-based electrocatalysts toward HER, OER, and overall water splitting across all pH conditions, including reaction mechanism, construction of advanced electrocatalysts, and regulation strategy of activity is focused. Finally, the current challenges and future prospects are highlighted, aiming to guide the design and synthesis of the universal pH-stable Ru-based electrocatalysts.