Simultaneously Improved Activity and Stability for Acidic Water Oxidation of IrRu Oxides by a Dual Role of Tungsten Doping

Acidic oxygen evolution reaction (OER) remains a significant challenge due to the low activity and/or poor stability of the catalysts, even with state-of-the-art catalysts such as IrO₂ and RuO₂. Herein, we propose a strategy to enhance both the catalytic activity and stability of IrRu oxides for acidic OER by doping non-noble metal W. The W-doped IrRu₃O_x (W-IrRu₃O_x) undergoes a process of W leaching and reconstruction during the OER, leading to a more uniform distribution of elements, while the electronegative nature of W influences the electronic structures of Ir and Ru in W-IrRu₃O_x. The dual role of W in promoting the formation of active site Ir⁵⁺ and inhibiting the concentration of soluble Ru^>4+ ions results in a synergistic enhancement of both the activity and stability of acidic OER. Remarkably, W-IrRu₃O_x exhibits outstanding catalytic activity for the OER in 0.5 M H₂SO₄, with a high stability of more than 500 h. This work presents a novel and feasible strategy for the development of efficient and stable catalysts for acid OER, shedding light on the design of advanced electrocatalysts for energy conversion and storage applications.