Abstract
Durable and efficient bi-functional catalyst, that is capable of both oxygen evolution reaction and hydrogen evolution reaction under acidic condition, are highly desired for the commercialization of proton exchange membrane water electrolysis. Herein, we report a robust L-Ru/HfO(2) heterostructure constructed via confining crystalline Ru nanodomains by HfO(2) matrix. When assembled with a proton exchange membrane, the bi-functional L-Ru/HfO(2) catalyst-based electrolyzer presents a voltage of 1.57 and 1.67 V to reach 100 and 300 mA cm(-2) current density, prevailing most of previously reported Ru-based materials as well as commercial Pt/C||RuO(2) electrolyzer. It is revealed that the synergistic effect of HfO(2) modification and small crystalline domain formation significantly alleviates the over-oxidation of Ru. More importantly, this synergistic effect facilitates a dual-site oxide path during the oxygen evolution procedure via optimization of the binding configurations of oxygenated adsorbates. As a result, the Ru active sites maintain the metallic state along with reduced energy barrier for the rate-determining step (*O→*OOH). Both of water adsorption and dissociation (Volmer step) are strengthened, while a moderate hydrogen binding is achieved to accelerate the hydrogen desorption procedure (Tafel step). Consequently, the activity and stability of acidic overall water splitting are simultaneously enhanced.