Citation: Yun Chen, Xinqi Chen, Mingpeng Chen, Huachuan Sun, Tianwei He, Dequan Li, Guohao Na, Yuewen Wu, Guoyang Qiu, Tong Zhou, Yumin Zhang, Jin Zhang, Feng Liu, Hao Cui, Qingju Liu. Cross-scale manipulation of Ru single-atom catalyst for enhanced hydrogen evolution and overall water splitting at industrial current density[J]. Chinese Chemical Letters, ;2026, 37(11): 111813. doi: 10.1016/j.cclet.2025.111813 shu

Cross-scale manipulation of Ru single-atom catalyst for enhanced hydrogen evolution and overall water splitting at industrial current density

Yun Chen ^a ,
Xinqi Chen ^a ,
Mingpeng Chen ^{a, *,} ,
Huachuan Sun ^a ,
Tianwei He ^a ,
Dequan Li ^a ,
Guohao Na ^a ,
Yuewen Wu ^a ,
Guoyang Qiu ^a ,
Tong Zhou ^a ,
Yumin Zhang ^a ,
Jin Zhang ^a ,
Feng Liu ^b ,
Hao Cui ^b ,
Qingju Liu ^{a, *,}

a.
Yunnan Key Laboratory for Micro/Nano Materials & Technology, National Center for International Research on Photoelectric and Energy Materials, School of Materials and Energy, Yunnan University, Kunming 650091, China
b.
Yunnan Precious Metals Laboratory Co., Ltd., Kunming 650106, China

mpchen@ynu.edu.cn

qjliu@ynu.edu.cn

Received Date: 4 July 2025
Revised Date: 23 August 2025
Accepted Date: 9 September 2025
Available Online: 9 September 2025

Figures(4)

The development of heterostructure catalysts has been deemed as an appropriate strategy for water splitting. Yet, their further advancement is hindered by limited intrinsic activity. Recently, single-atom catalysts have garnered significant attention due to its ultrahigh atomic utilization efficiency near 100%. Herein, we propose a cross-scale manipulation strategy to couple Ru single atoms with NiFe-LDH/MoNiS core-shell heterostructure. The surface of MoNiS nanorods is uniformly covered by NiFe-LDH ultrathin nanosheets, resulting in electron redistribution across the interface. Isolated Ru atoms are stabilized on NiFe-LDH to form Ru−O−Ni motifs, which activates the metal center and enables catalyst structure to a certain robustness. The optimum Ru_SA/NiFe-LDH/MoNiS delivers large current densities of 500 and 1000 mA/cm² with ultralow overpotentials of 234 and 320 mV for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) in 1 mol/L KOH. Moreover, the electrode shows remarkable durability over 1000 cycles and long-term stability over 200 h. The assembled water electrolyzer exhibits a low cell voltage of 1.85 V to attain 500 mA/cm². In-situ spectroscopy and theoretical calculations demonstrate that the active Ru−O−Ni motifs accelerate the adsorption/dissociation of water molecules and balance the adsorption of *H, thus greatly improving the hydrogen generation.
- Cross-scale manipulation,
- Single-atom catalyst,
- Heterostructure,
- Hydrogen evolution reaction,
- Industrial current density
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