Bold innovation of noble metal support system: Ru-RuO2/MXene@CC for efficient hydrogen evolution reaction in water electrolysis

Achieving efficient and environmentally sustainable energy conversion through the electrocatalytic hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) in alkaline media is a pressing goal. Here, we report a method to adjust the proportion and hydrophilicity of the heterointerface Ru-RuO2 loaded on the HER catalyst (Ru-RuO2/MXene@CC) by tuning the Ru element content. By adjusting the Ru content, the water contact angle of the catalyst can be reduced from 57.4° to 25.5°, resulting in improved hydrophilicity. When the Ru loading on Ru-RuO2/MXene@CC reaches 3 wt% (Ru species = 3%), the catalyst exhibits the best catalytic activity with a low overpotential of 43 mV at a current density of 10 mA cm−2 and an impressively low Tafel slope of 52.1 mV dec−1. These results surpass the performance of most previously reported MXene-based catalysts, with a mass activity reaching 1751.11 mA·mg−1. Furthermore, the Ru-RuO2/MXene@CC catalyst exhibited outstanding stability in alkaline electrolytes, showing no apparent decay during a 10-hour stability test at 10 mA cm−2. These findings underscore the industrial potential of Ru-RuO2/MXene@CC composites for sustainable green energy generation.