Ruthenium Single-Atom Modulated Protonated Iridium Oxide for Acidic Water Oxidation in Proton Exchange Membrane Electrolysers.

Proton exchange membrane water electrolysers promise to usher in a new era of clean energy, but they remain a formidable obstacle in designing active and durable electrocatalysts for the acidic oxygen evolution reaction (OER). In this study, a protonated iridium oxide embedded with single-atom dispersed ruthenium atoms (HIr RuO) that demonstrates exceptional activity and stability in acidic water oxidation is introduced. The single Ru dopants favorably induce localized oxygen vacancies in the Ir─O lattice, synergistically strengthening the adsorption of OOH* intermediates and enhancing the intrinsic OER activity.