Enhancing electrocatalytic performance of RuO2-based catalysts: mechanistic insights, strategic approaches, and recent advances

Abstract Electrochemical water splitting presents the ultimate potential of hydrogen and oxygen production; however, regulating the rate and efficiency of water splitting is highly dependent on the accessibility of extremely efficient electrode materials for slow performance kinetics and large overpotential of both oxygen evolution reaction (OER) and hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). Ruthenium oxide (RuO2) based materials display high performance for OER and HER because of their capacity to bind oxygen, eminent catalytic activity, low cost compared to other precious metals, and stability in a wide pH range. However, there is still much space to promote the OER and HER activity and stability of RuO2 to fulfill the necessity for practical applications in water splitting. Different researchers applied multiple approaches that boosted the catalytic performance of RuO2-based electrocatalysts toward overall water splitting. Herein, this review provides a comprehensive overview of recent advancements in RuO2-based materials in the field of water electrolysis for the generation of alternative energies. It gives a general description of water splitting in acidic and alkaline settings, including reaction mechanisms as well as common evaluation elements for the catalytic function of the materials. Most of the review reported based on RuO2 materials are only focused on OER performance but this review highlighted comprehensive ideas on different strategies like morphology design, electronic structure, electrolytes, and optimizing both electrocatalytic HER and OER functioning of RuO2-based electrocatalysts.