Breakthrough in Nanotechnology: Development of Highly Active and CO-Tolerant Hydrogen Oxidation Reaction Electroocatalysts

Strategic Insights -

Research from Soochow University in China has led to the development of highly active and CO-tolerant hydrogen oxidation reaction (HOR) electroocatalysts, which are crucial for alkaline exchange membrane fuel cells (AEMFCs). The designed atomically Ni anchored Ru/RuO heterostructure nanosheets (Ni-Ru@RuO NSs/C) exhibit enhanced activity and stability for HOR in alkaline media. The optimized electrocatalyst delivers a high CO-tolerant durability with 92.3% retention in the 1000 ppm CO concentration after 5000 s test.

Key Takeaways:

  • The designed nanosheets exhibit enhanced activity and stability for HOR in alkaline media, making them highly suitable for AEMFCs.
  • The optimized electrocatalyst shows a high CO-tolerant durability with 92.3% retention in the 1000 ppm CO concentration after 5000 s test.
  • The anode catalyst Ni-Ru@RuO NSs/C assembled AEMFCs output a peak power density (PPD) and specific PPD of 1.76 W cm and 17.6 W mg under the H/O condition.
  • The AEMFCs performed a long-term stability with negligible decay for 100 h at 0.5 A cm.
  • The relative mechanism studies reveal that the Ru/RuO heterostructure nanosheet and dispersed Ni single atoms have optimized the *H and *OH adsorption simultaneously and weaken the *CO adsorption.
  • The research concludes that the work may offer a significant guideline on the rational design of high-performance HOR electrocatalyst for energy-related applications.
  • Lujie Jin and Liangbin Liu are among the co-authors of this research include Renjie Ren, Wei Yan, Nan Fang, Yujin Ji, Youyong Li, Lin Zhuang, Qingyu Kong, Zhiwei Hu, Qi Shao, and Xiaoqing Huang from Soochow University.

Statistics:

  • The designed nanosheets exhibit enhanced activity and stability for HOR in alkaline media.
  • The optimized electrocatalyst delivers a high CO-tolerant durability with 92.3% retention in the 1000 ppm CO concentration after 5000 s test.
  • The anode catalyst Ni-Ru@RuO NSs/C assembled AEMFCs output a peak power density (PPD) and specific PPD of 1.76 W cm and 17.6 W mg under the H/O condition.
  • The AEMFCs performed a long-term stability with negligible decay for 100 h at 0.5 A cm.
  • The research has provided a significant guideline on the rational design of high-performance HOR electrocatalyst for energy-related applications.

Sources:

  • Nature Communications, 2025;16(1):8951. Nature Communications can be contacted at: Nature Portfolio, Heidelberger Platz 3, Berlin, 14197, Germany.
  • NewsRx. Recent Findings from Soochow University Has Provided New Data on Nanosheets (A concurrently optimization of H and OH binding energies in atomically Ni anchored Ru/RuO2 nanosheet driving high CO-tolerant hydrogen oxidation catalysis). Nanotechnology Weekly. October 20, 2025; p 2806.
  • Institute of Functional Nano and Soft Materials, Soochow University, Suzhou, 215123, People's Republic of China.
  • Publisher contact information for the journal Nature Communications is: Nature Portfolio, Heidelberger Platz 3, Berlin, 14197, Germany.