Ru-Mn Pair-Site Triggers Key Oxygen Intermediate for Enhanced Acidic Oxygen Evolution Reaction Kinetics

Abstract

Herein, variable valence states Mn was adopted to regulate Ru-NC, which serves as a model to reduce the localization of Ru 4d structure and stimulate facile charge transfer, achieving accelerated surface reconstruction to generate Ru‒O active ingredient with high active to acidic water oxidation. Doping Mn not only accelerate surface reconstruction, but also improves durability by eliminating Ru peroxidation due to Mn-buffered charge compensation. The enhancement of OER activity results from the Mn and O induced Ru spin states to change from intermediate spin to low spin, thereby weakening the interaction with *O intermediates, and promoting *OH adsorption，which benefits the initial step of OER.

Keywords: surface reconstruction, Acidic water oxidation, Charge and spin regulation, Ru‒O active ingredient