AUTHOR=Aleksić Katarina , Stojković Simatović Ivana , Stanković Ana , Veselinović Ljiljana , Stojadinović Stevan , Rac Vladislav , Radmilović Nadežda , Rajić Vladimir , Škapin Srečo Davor , Mančić Lidija , Marković Smilja 

TITLE=Enhancement of ZnO@RuO2 bifunctional photo-electro catalytic activity toward water splitting

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Chemistry

VOLUME=Volume 11 - 2023

YEAR=2023

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/chemistry/articles/10.3389/fchem.2023.1173910

DOI=10.3389/fchem.2023.1173910

ISSN=2296-2646

ABSTRACT=The catalytic materials are the greatest challenge for the commercial application of water electrolyzes (WEs) and fuel cells (FCs) as clean energy technologies. It is necessary to find an alternative for expensive and unavailable platinum group metal (PGM) catalysts. The aim of this research was to reduce the cost of PGM materials by replacing Ru with RuO2 and to lower the amount of RuO2 by adding abundant and multifunctional ZnO. ZnO@RuO2 composite in 10:1 molar ratio was synthesized by microwave processing of a precipitate as green, low-cost and fast method, and then annealed at 300 and 600 oC to enhance catalytic properties. The physicochemical properties of the ZnO@RuO2 composites were studied by X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), Raman and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), UV-Vis diffuse reflectance (DRS) and photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy. The electrochemical activity of the samples was investigated by linear sweep voltammetry in both acidic and alkaline electrolytes. We found good bifunctional catalytic activity of the ZnO@RuO2 composites toward HER and OER in both electrolytes. The enhanced bifunctional catalytic activity of the ZnO@RuO2 composite by annealing was discussed and attributed to reduced concentration of the bulk oxygen vacancies.