RuCoO_x Nanofoam as a High-Performance Trifunctional Electrocatalyst for Rechargeable Zinc-Air Batteries and Water Splitting

Designing high-performance trifunctional electrocatalysts for ORR/OER/HER with outstanding activity and stability for each reaction is quite significant yet challenging for renewable energy technologies. Herein, a highly efficient and durable trifunctional electrocatalyst RuCoO_x is prepared by a unique one-pot glucose-blowing approach. Remarkably, RuCoO_x catalyst exhibits a small potential difference (ΔE) of 0.65 V and low HER overpotential of 37 mV (10 mA cm^-2), as well as a negligible decay of overpotential after 200 000/10 000/10 000 CV cycles for ORR/OER/HER, all of which show overwhelming superiorities among the advanced trifunctional electrocatalysts. When used in liquid rechargeable Zn-air batteries and water splitting electrolyzer, RuCoO_x exhibits high efficiency and outstanding durability even at quite large current density. Such excellent performance can be attributed to the rational combination of targeted ORR/OER/HER active sites into one electrocatalyst based on the double-phase coupling strategy, which induces sufficient electronic structure modulation and synergistic effect for enhanced trifunctional properties.