Oxygen-vacancy-rich Ru nanoclusters doped NiCo metal-organic framework for driving overall water electrolysis and supercapacitors

Due to the growing demand for clean renewable hydrogen fuel , the rational design of electrode materials' composition and structure holds significant importance in achieving efficient energy storage and conversion in electrochemical energy devices. In this study, we synthesize NiCo-MOF74/NF substrate using a one-step hydrothermal method , after which we successfully deposit a layer of Ru metal nanoclusters on the substrate by electrodeposition . Ru NCs@NiCo-MOF74/NF exhibits an exceptionally large specific surface area and excellent interface effects, demonstrating outstanding performance in both overall water splitting and supercapacitor applications. In a 1 M KOH alkaline solution, the device requires only 1.47 V output voltage to deliver a current density of 10 mA cm −2 for overall water splitting. As a supercapacitor , the unique nanoflower structure of Ru NCs@NiCo-MOF74/NF enables fast and reversible Faradaic reactions, providing high specific capacitance and rate performance. It shows a high areal capacitance of 1.664 mAh cm −2 at 1 mA cm −2 , indicating excellent charge storage capacity. Assembled into an asymmetric supercapacitor (ASC) with Ru NCs@NiCo-MOF74/NF as the positive electrode , the device achieves a high energy density of 511.88 μWh cm −2 at a power density of 545.68 μW cm −2 . After 5000 cycles, the capacitance retention rate is approximately 100 %, demonstrating remarkable cycling stability. This paves the way for the synthesis of multifunctional catalysts, opening up new possibilities in the field.