Interface-Growth-Assisted Molten Salt Synthesis of Cobalt-Embedded Ruthenium Oxide for Oxygen Evolution Electrocatalysis.

Authors

Chun Hu, Zhongfeng Wang, Lijia Liu, Sapna Sinha, Kazu Suenaga, Ximeng Lv, Xiao Zhao, Jiacheng Wang, Fuqiang Huang

Published in

Small (Weinheim an der Bergstrasse, Germany). Pages e75238. Aug 13, 2026. Epub Aug 13, 2026.

Abstract

Ruthenium oxide (RuO₂) is the most promising alternative to iridium oxide (IrO₂) catalyst in proton-exchange-membrane water electrolysis (PEMWE). However, its practical application has been hindered by poor stability. Here, we developed an interface-growth-assisted molten salt synthesis (MSS) strategy for the preparation of stable cobalt (Co)-embedded RuO₂ (Co-RuO₂) nanorods using a lanthanum cobaltate (LaCoO₃) template. The MSS environment is beneficial for anisotropic growth and the exposure of highly active RuO₂ crystal planes. Moreover, the in situ topological transformation arising from the interface growth of RuO₂ on LaCoO₃ can further enhance these effects and incorporate Co into the RuO₂ lattice. The PEMWE electrolyzer with Co-RuO₂ as the anode catalyst can operate steadily for over 300 h at 500 mA cm^-2. Theoretical simulations indicate that Co substitutions would stabilize oxygen vacancies and increase metal-oxygen covalency, thereby lowering cell voltage and improving the stability of the PEMWE electrolyzer. This work pioneers template-directed interface growth in an MSS environment to prepare anisotropic RuO₂ catalysts for practical PEMWE applications.

PMID:
42591021
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 13 Aug 2026.

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