Ruthenium-doped bimetallic organic framework self-supported electrodes as efficient electrocatalysts for oxygen evolution reaction

Oxygen evolution reaction (OER) has higher energy barrier and slower kinetics, which limits the efficiency of electrocatalytic water splitting. Developing efficient catalysts is of great significance for improving oxygen evolution performance. Therefore, we developed a low-dose ruthenium-doped copper-nickel bimetallic organic framework self-supported electrode (RuxCuNi-MOF/CF). The prepared Ru0·004CuNi-MOF/CF has excellent electrocatalytic activity and stability. At the current density of 10 mA cm−2, the overpotential is only 203 mV in 1 M KOH electrolyte, and it can work continuously and stably for 100 h. The Tafel slope of Ru0·004CuNi-MOF/CF is 57.01 mV dec−1. The excellent electrocatalyst performance is attributed to the following three points: (1) The self-supporting material does not need adhesives to avoid the inhibition of the conductive ability of the catalyst. (2) The Cu2+/Ni2+ lattice site is replaced by Ruδ+, and the electron rearrangement improves the conductivity and catalytic activity of the material. (3) The presence of zero-valence ruthenium nanoparticles can further provide more active sites and improve the electrochemical reaction rate. This work provides new insights into fabricating ruthenium-doped bimetallic organic framework self-supported electrode for the study of oxygen evolution performance.