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1. Rapid Synthesis of Carbon‐Supported Ru‐RuO₂ Heterostructures for Efficient Electrochemical Water Splitting

   https://doi.org/10.1002/advs.202414534  

   Pan, Dingjie; Yu, Bingzhe; Tressel, John; Yu, Sarah; Saravanan, Pranav; Sangoram, Naya; Ornelas‐Perez, Andrea; Bridges, Frank; Chen, Shaowei (March 2025, Advanced Science)

   Abstract Development of high‐performance electrocatalysts for water splitting is crucial for a sustainable hydrogen economy. In this study, rapid heating of ruthenium(III) acetylacetonate by magnetic induction heating (MIH) leads to the one‐step production of Ru‐RuO₂/C nanocomposites composed of closely integrated Ru and RuO₂ nanoparticles. The formation of Mott‐Schottky heterojunctions significantly enhances charge transfer across the Ru‐RuO₂interface leading to remarkable electrocatalytic activities toward both hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER) in 1 mKOH. Among the series, the sample prepares at 300 A for 10 s exhibits the best performance, with an overpotential of only −31 mV for HER and +240 mV for OER to reach the current density of 10 mA cm⁻². Additionally, the catalyst demonstrates excellent durability, with minimal impacts of electrolyte salinity. With the sample as the bifunctional catalysts for overall water splitting, an ultralow cell voltage of 1.43 V is needed to reach 10 mA cm⁻², 160 mV lower than that with a commercial 20% Pt/C and RuO₂/C mixture. These results highlight the significant potential of MIH in the ultrafast synthesis of high‐performance catalysts for electrochemical water splitting and sustainable hydrogen production from seawater. 

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2. Rapid Fabrication of Cobalt/Cobalt Oxide Heterostructured Catalysts for Efficient Electrochemical Water Splitting

   https://doi.org/10.1002/asia.70647  

   Jones, Colton; Pizano, Josue; Tressel, John; Chen, Shaowei (February 2026, Chemistry – An Asian Journal)

   ABSTRACT Metal/carbon‐based nanocomposites have attracted significant interest for electrochemical water splitting due to their unique interfacial electronic structures, abundant active sites, and catalytic bifunctionality toward both hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER). Herein, Co/CoO‐rGO composites consisting of Co/CoO heterostructured nanoparticles encapsulated within a graphitized carbon scaffold are produced via magnetic induction heating at controlled currents for 10 s with cobalt(II) nitrate and reduced graphene oxide (rGO) loaded on nickel foam and effectively catalyze both HER and OER in alkaline media. Among the series, the sample prepared at 400 A for 10 s exhibits the best performance, featuring an overpotential of −144 mV for HER and +390 mV for OER at 10 mA cm⁻²and 50 mA cm⁻², respectively. The bifunctional activity can then be exploited for full water splitting, where a low cell voltage of 1.61 V is needed to generate a current density of 10 mA cm⁻², 260 mV better than that with commercial Pt/C and RuO₂. The remarkable performance is attributed to the synergistic interaction between the Co and CoO domains, enhanced charge transfer at the heterojunction interface, and conductive carbon support. These results highlight the potential of Co/CoO‐based nanocomposites as efficient and low‐cost catalysts for overall water splitting and the scalability of the MIH technology. 

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3. Ruthenium/Carbon Nanocomposites for Efficient Hydrogen Electrocatalysis: Impacts of Halide Residues

   https://doi.org/10.1002/cssc.202500802  

   Yu, Bingzhe; Liu, Qiming; Dun, Chaochao; DuBois, Davida Briana; Hou, Bryan; Pan, Dingjie; Tressel, John; Mayford, Kiley; Jones, Colton; Wang, Xiao; et al (July 2025, ChemSusChem)

   Ruthenium has emerged as a promising substitute for platinum toward the hydrogen evolution/oxidation reaction (HER/HOR). Herein, ruthenium/carbon composites are prepared by magnetic induction heating (300 A, 10 s) of RuCl₃, RuBr₃or RuI₃loaded on hollow N‐doped carbon cages (HNC). The HNC‐RuCl₃‐300A sample consists of Ru nanoparticles (dia. 1.96 nm) and abundant Cl residues. HNC‐RuBr₃‐300A possesses a larger nanoparticle size (≈19.36 nm) and lower content of Br residues. HNC‐RuI₃‐300A contains only bulk‐like Ru agglomerates with a minimal amount of I residues, due to reduced Ru‐halide bonding interactions. Among these, HNC‐RuCl₃‐300A exhibits the best HER activity in alkaline media, with a low overpotential of only −26 mV to reach 10 mA cm⁻², even outperforming Pt/C, and can be used as the cathode catalyst for anion exchange membrane water electrolyzer (along with commercial RuO₂as the anode catalyst), producing 0.5 A cm⁻²at 1.88 V for up to 100 h, a performance markedly better than that with Pt/C. HNC‐RuCl₃‐300A also exhibits the best HOR activity, with a half‐wave potential (+18 mV) even lower than that of Pt/C (+35 mV). These activities are ascribed to the combined contributions of small Ru nanoparticles and Ru‐to‐halide charge transfer that weaken H adsorption. 

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4. Block copolymer-mediated synthesis of TiO2/RuO2 nanocomposite for efficient oxygen evolution reaction

   https://doi.org/10.1007/s10853-024-09702-5  

   KC, Binod Raj; Kumar, Dhananjay; Bastakoti, Bishnu Prasad (June 2024, Journal of Materials Science)

   Abstract An amphiphilic block copolymer, poly (styrene-2-polyvinyl pyridine-ethylene oxide), was used as a structure-directing and stabilizing agent to synthesize TiO₂/RuO₂nanocomposite. The strong interaction of polymers with metal precursors led to formation of a porous heterointerface of TiO₂/RuO₂. It acted as a bridge for electron transport, which can accelerate the water splitting reaction. Scanning electron microscopy, energy-dispersiveX-ray spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy, andX-ray diffraction analysis of TiO₂/RuO₂samples revealed successful fabrication of TiO₂/RuO₂nanocomposites. The TiO₂/RuO₂nanocomposites were used to measure electrochemical water splitting in three-electrode systems in 0.1-M KOH. Electrochemical activities unveil that TiO₂/RuO₂-150 nanocomposites displayed superior oxygen evolution reaction activity, having a low overpotential of 260 mV with a Tafel slope of 80 mVdec⁻¹. Graphical abstract 

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5. High‐Valence Metal Modulating Lattice Oxygen in High‐Entropy Layered Double Hydroxides for Enhanced Oxygen Evolution Reaction

   https://doi.org/10.1002/adfm.202518240  

   Zhong, Xiahua; Wang, Hong‐Yi; Zhang, Chen; Wang, Wenhu; Nelson, Christopher T; He, Xiaoqing; Sun, Qingqing; Gibson, Benjamine G; Neupane, Manish; Deng, Baolin; et al (November 2025, Advanced Functional Materials)

   Abstract The oxygen evolution reaction (OER) is hindered by sluggish kinetics due to its complex four‐electron, proton‐coupled mechanism. While noble metal oxides like IrO₂and RuO₂are effective OER catalysts, their high cost and unsatisfactory stability limit large‐scale applications. High‐entropy layered double hydroxides (HE‐LDHs) offer a promising alternative by enabling multi‐metallic site tuning and entropy‐driven phase stabilization. Herein, VCoNiCuZn and MoCoNiCuZn HE‐LDHs respectively modulated by high‐valence V⁴⁺/V⁵⁺and Mo⁶⁺are hydrothermally synthesized on Ni foam. The MoCoNiCuZn HE‐LDH achieved an overpotential of 186 mV at 10 mA cm⁻², which is significantly lower than that of 306 mV obtained from CoNiCuZn LDH. The strong M‐O covalency induced by high‐valence metals facilitates charge redistribution andd‐porbital overlap, activating lattice oxygen and promoting the lattice oxygen mechanism (LOM). The resulting OER performance surpasses most reported multi‐principal element materials and rivals noble‐metal‐doped LDHs. Moreover, high‐entropy stabilization presents excellent structural durability and long‐term electrochemical stability, highlighting the promise of noble‐metal‐free HE‐LDHs for water splitting. 

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