RuO₂-NiO Nanosheets on Conductive Nickel Foam for Reliable and Regeneratable Seawater Splitting

Exploration of active and durable electrocatalysts for water splitting has aroused widespread concern and is devoted with huge efforts to produce sustainable energy: hydrogen. Herein, self-standing RuO2-NiO nanosheets on conductive nickel foam (RuO2-NiO NSs/NF) are obtained via a spontaneous coprecipitation strategy for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). The RuO2-NiO NSs/NF electrode not only has efficient intrinsic activity because of the in situ-formed Ru/RuO2 interface during HER but also presents superior kinetic stability due to the self-standing nanosheet structure. By integrating compositional and structural merits, the RuO2-NiO NSs/NF electrode displays higher turnover frequencies compared with Pt/C (0.524 vs 0.376 H2 s–1 in 1 M KOH and 0.177 vs 0.065 H2 s–1 in 1 M KPi) and delivers remarkably small overpotentials of 14 and 25 mV at 10 mA cm–2 in 1 M KOH and KPi, respectively. Along with long-term stability at large current densities and excellent regenerative capability with simple acid treatment, the RuO2-NiO NSs/NF electrode exhibits potential for commercial seawater splitting.