Ruco Alloy-Loaded Starch-Based Carbon Aerogel: A Self-Supported Electrocatalyst for Efficient Hydrogen Evolution in Alkaline Saline Water

In the context of sustainable development, efficient electrocatalysts for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) in alkaline saline water are crucial. This study presents a self-supported starch-based carbon aerogel (SCA) electrocatalyst loaded with RuCo alloys, synthesized through adsorption and high-temperature annealing. The RuCo/SCA-1-700 catalyst exhibits excellent mechanical properties, enabling direct use in alkaline saline electrolysis. It achieves a current density of 10 mA cm−2 at low overpotentials of 41 mV and 31 mV in 1.0 M KOH and 1.0 M KOH + 0.5 M NaCl, respectively. The enhanced HER performance is attributed to the porous structure promoting mass transfer and preventing metal agglomeration, along with the synergistic interaction between Ru and Co, optimizing chemisorption energies. With easy synthesis, abundant materials, and excellent stability, RuCo/SCA-1-700 is promising for large-scale hydrogen production.

Keywords: RuCo alloys, Carbon aerogel, alkaline saline water, hydrogen evolution reaction

Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation

Qiu, Xianglin and Ma, Guorong and Gao, Shanshan and Lang, Xukang and Meng, Xiangmin and Chen, Fushan and Song, Xiaoming, Ruco Alloy-Loaded Starch-Based Carbon Aerogel: A Self-Supported Electrocatalyst for Efficient Hydrogen Evolution in Alkaline Saline Water. Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=5087328 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.5087328