Ru nanoparticles supported on alginate-derived graphene as hybrid electrodes for the hydrogen evolution reaction

The development of organic-inorganic hybrid materials for redox catalysis is key to access new energy conversion schemes and the sustainable production of dihydrogen. Here, bare and P-doped graphene arising from the pyrolysis of biomass (alginate from marine algae) has been used as a support for the growth and stabilization of ultra-small Ru/RuO ₂NPs through organometallic synthesis. P-doped graphene allows obtaining smaller and better dispersed NPs in hybrid electrodes of lower roughness and electroactive surface area. Electrochemical activation of the as-synthesised supported nanoparticles by reduction of the passivating RuO ₂layer generates excellent HER electrocatalysts under acidic conditions (η ₁₀of 29 mV and 15 mV for the bare and P-doped electrodes, respectively). P doping, identified as surface phosphates by ³¹P solid state NMR, induces improvement of all HER benchmarking parameters studied, including overpotential and exchange and specific current densities. All studied materials show excellent long-term stability and selectivity for hydrogen generation with no sign of deactivation after 12 h under turnover conditions and almost quantitative faradaic efficiencies.