Ruthenium nanoparticles supported on carbon oxide nanotubes for electrocatalytic hydrogen evolution in alkaline media

Highlights: • We designed and developed a novel HER catalyst of ruthenium nanoparticles supported on oxide carbon nanotubes (Ru@OCNT-700). • For HER performance in alkaline media (1 M KOH), the as-formed Ru@OCNT-700 reaches 10 mA cm⁻² at an overpotential of 13.2 mV with a Tafel slope of 45.4 mV dec⁻¹. • Through the characterization of the surface and structure of the catalyst sample, the interaction between ruthenium metal and carrier was analyzed. "Cracking" water is of great significance to develop (HER) catalysts with high catalytic performance for non-platinum hydrogen evolution under alkaline conditions. In this paper, we prepared a ruthenium nanoparticle catalyst on oxidized carbon nanotubes (Ru@OCNT) support. Electrochemical tests showed that Ru@OCNT-700 exhibited excellent catalytic performance and good stability under alkaline conditions (1 M KOH). When the current density reached 10 mA cm⁻², it only needed an overpotential of 13.2 mV. The Tafel slope was 45.4 mV/dec⁻¹. Due to its excellent HER performance, Ru@OCNT electrocatalyst could have broad applicability in large-scale hydrogen production.