Facile synthesis of ultrafine RuTe2 nanoparticles supported on B, N co-doped graphene as an efficient HER catalyst

Recently, ruthenium telluride (RuTe2) has received widespread attention as an effective HER catalyst. In this work, ultrafine and well-dispersed RuTe2 nanoparticles anchored on nitrogen and boron co-doped graphene (RuTe2/BNG) was developed by freeze-drying and facile pyrolysis method, demonstrating a brilliant HER performance. The overpotential of RuTe2/BNG at the current density of 10 mA cm−2 is only 34 and 16 mV in 0.5 M H2SO4 and 1.0 M KOH solution, respectively. More importantly, the RuTe2/BNG can also maintain significantly robust HER stability during long-term chronopotentiometry measurements. The outstanding HER activity of RuTe2/BNG should be ascribed to its properties with abundant defects, large specific surface area, high electronic conductivity and short mass transfer path. Our work offers a new path to fabricate efficient HER catalysts by homogeneously anchoring RuTe2 on B, N co-doped graphene.