Is Pt/C More Electrocatalytic than Ru/C for Hydrogen Evolution in Alkaline Electrolytes?

It has been widely accepted that Pt is more electrocatalytic than Ru for alkaline hydrogen evolution reactions (HERs), probably on the basis of the previous studies on bulk metals. Herein, we report that, in strong contrast with the previously reported results on bulk metals, the nanoparticular Ru supported on carbon (Ru/C) exhibits much higher alkaline HER performance than Pt supported on carbon (Pt/C). We further demonstrate that both commercial and homemade Ru/C catalysts are even more active than most reported Ru-based materials. These results suggest that Ru/C should be used as benchmark material instead of Pt/C for evaluating the alkaline HER performance of catalysts.