Facile synthesis of Ru/N-C as an efficient and cost-effective electrocatalyst for hydrogen evolution

The preparation of high activity, cost-effective catalyst is the key to commercial production of hydrogen from electrochemical splitting water, which is an ideal candidate for clean energy conversion and storage system in the future. Unfortunately, the current catalysts for HER are rarely able to balance performance and the cost. Herein, we successfully prepared an efficient catalyst (Ru/N-C) for HER by a facile method through multi-step pyrolysis hard template. Electrochemical tests show that the HER activity of synthesized Ru/N-C-6% catalyst with onset potential of 0 mV and overpotential of 34 mV at 10 mA cm-2 was comparable to that of Pt/C in 1 M KOH. Moreover, after 10,000 cycles, the potential change at 10 mA cm-2 is almost negligible. The origin of this high activity was analyzed via density functional theory (DFT), and the mechanism is further understood. Therefore, this work provides a promising substitute for Pt-based catalysts.