RuO₂ Catalysts for Electrocatalytic Oxygen Evolution in Acidic Media: Mechanism, Activity Promotion Strategy and Research Progress

Proton Exchange Membrane Water Electrolysis (PEMWE) under acidic conditions outperforms alkaline water electrolysis in terms of less resistance loss, higher current density, and higher produced hydrogen purity, which make it more economical in long-term applications. However, the efficiency of PEMWE is severely limited by the slow kinetics of anodic oxygen evolution reaction (OER), poor catalyst stability, and high cost. Therefore, researchers in the past decade have made great efforts to explore cheap, efficient, and stable electrode materials. Among them, the RuO₂ electrocatalyst has been proved to be a major promising alternative to Ir-based catalysts and the most promising OER catalyst owing to its excellent electrocatalytic activity and high pH adaptability. In this review, we elaborate two reaction mechanisms of OER (lattice oxygen mechanism and adsorbate evolution mechanism), comprehensively summarize and discuss the recently reported RuO₂-based OER electrocatalysts under acidic conditions, and propose many advanced modification strategies to further improve the activity and stability of RuO₂-based electrocatalytic OER. Finally, we provide suggestions for overcoming the challenges faced by RuO₂ electrocatalysts in practical applications and make prospects for future research. This review provides perspectives and guidance for the rational design of highly active and stable acidic OER electrocatalysts based on PEMWE.