Researchers Find That Temperature Matters for RhRu₃Ox During Acidic Water Oxidation

The oxygen evolution reaction is more relevant to your daily life than you would think. It is used in many electrochemical devices, such as batteries. However, this reaction still has a lot of room for improvement that would allow for it to be applied at a larger scale in next-gen technology. To achieve this, researchers at Tohoku University demonstrated an effect that influences the stability of catalysts - the key to making this oxygen evolution reaction more efficient.

The findings were posted in Nature Communications on October 20, 2025.

The research team used a home-made operando differential electrochemical mass spectrometry system to examine how RhRu₃O_x behaves in the oxygen evolution reaction. Their findings showed a temperature-dependent mechanism evolution effect, which means that a certain stage of the reaction is triggered by temperature. The revelation of this effect will help researchers understand how to manipulate this pathway in order to create more stable catalysts.

"We found that this catalyst tends towards different reaction mechanisms at high versus low temperatures, which we can now use to our advantage to try and get the outcome that we want," explains Heng Liu (Advanced Institute for Materials Research (WPI-AIMR).

Since practical implementation is also important, they evaluated the stability of RhRu₃O_x. Remarkably, it remained stable for over 1000 hours at room temperature (current density: 200mA cm⁻²).

To advance this research further, future work should focus on optimizing the F doping levels to systematically enhance catalytic performance and durability under commercial-scale PEM electrolyzer conditions.

This work represents considerable advancement in the fundamental research of TMPs-based hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) catalysts, which paves the way for the rational design of novel highly-efficient, non-noble metal-based cathodes for commercial applications. These catalysts hold tremendous potential as a way to help reduce our reliance on fossil fuels and generate energy in an environmentally-friendly manner.

https://www.tohoku.ac.jp/en/press/researchers_find_that_temperature_matters_for_rhruox_during_acidic_water_oxidation.html

Title: Temperature-dependent mechanism evolution on RhRu3Ox for acidic water oxidation

Authors: Ming-Rong Qu, Heng Liu, Si-Hua Feng, Xiao-Zhi Su, Jie-Xu, Heng-Li Duan, Rui-Qi Liu, You-Qi Qin, Wen-sheng Yan, Sheng Zhu, Rui Wu, Hao Li, Shu-Hong Yu

Journal: Nature Communications

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-64286-1

Archivos adjuntos

LSV curves (a), Tafel slope (b) and EIS Nyquist plots (c) of RhRu3Ox, Hom-RuO2 and Com-RuO2. The solution resistance was determined from the intersection of the EIS curve with the real axis when the imaginary part (Z″) equals zero, yielding a value of 25.0 ± 0.4Ω. (d) C2dl plots calculated from CV curves. (e) Tafel plots of RhRu3Ox at different temperatures. (f) Arrhenius plot of OER exchange current density of RhRu3Ox and Hom-RuO2 CoP. ©Heng Liu et al.
Photograph (a) and Schematic illustration (b) of the operando TC-DEMS set up. Triangular potential applied at room temperature (c) and 60 °C (d) and corresponding MS signal. The upper panel shows the potential (black, left axis) and current density (red, right axis) in relation to time. The lower panel shows the MS signals for 32O2 (m/z = 32, orange) and 34O2 (m/z = 34, blue). The integrated peak area of m/z = 32 (e) and m/z=34 (f) at different cycles and different temperatures. (g) Ratio of peak area of 34O2: 32O2. ©Heng Liu et al.
Calculated 1D surface Pourbaix diagram as a function of potential vs. RHE (pH 1; temperature=298.15 K) (a) and 2D surface Pourbaix diagram as a function of potential vs. SHE and pH (temperature: 298.15 K) (b) of RuO2 (110). AEM and LOM OER mechanisms illustration (c) and relevant free energy diagrams of these two mechanisms on RhRu3Ox and undoped RuO2 (d). ©Heng Liu et al.

06/11/2025 Tohoku University

Regions: Asia, Japan

Keywords: Science, Chemistry, Energy, Physics

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