Defect-anchored Ru clusters enable accelerated water dissociation for diversified carbon-source reforming

Anchoring Ru clusters (1.9 nm) onto N-terminated defects of h-BNNS via EMSI strategy • The surface EMSI environment in Ru/h-BNNS facilitates water adsorption/dissociation. • Ru/h-BNNS is efficient in “Diversified Carbon-Source Steam Reforming to Hydrogen”. • Record-high H 2 yield achieved from C 1 (CO/CH 3 OH) and C 2+ (C 2 H 5 OH/C 12 H 26 ) feedstocks Efficient water activation remains a pivotal challenge‌ in ‌the steam reforming‌ of ‌diverse carbon sources‌. This study addresses the limitation by ‌anchoring Ru clusters‌ on ‌N-terminated defects‌ of ‌hexagonal boron nitride nanosheets (h-BNNS)‌, leveraging ‌electronic metal–support interaction (EMSI)‌ to stabilize ‌highly dispersed, electron-deficient Ru sites‌. The resulting ‌Ru/h-BNNS catalyst‌ achieved ‌up to 100% conversion‌ of ‌C 1 feeds (CO, CH 3 OH)‌ at ‌250–300 °C‌ and ‌complete conversion‌ of ‌C 2+ feeds (ethanol, isododecane)‌ at ‌550–600 °C‌, delivering ‌high H 2 yield‌ and ‌long-term stability‌ that are highly competitive with representative noble-metal catalysts‌. In-situ spectroscopy‌ and density functional theory (DFT) calculations demonstrate that ‌defect-induced electronic modulation‌ accelerated ‌H 2 O dissociation‌ and strengthened ‌Ru O binding‌, thereby ‌lowering water activation barriers‌ and ‌suppressing metal sintering‌. These attributes establish a ‌“Diversified Carbon-Source Steam Reforming to Hydrogen” strategy (C x TH, x refers to CO, methanol, ethanol, and hydrocarbons)‌, which aligns with the Green Carbon Science framework by enabling efficient H 2 production with high catalytic activity and enhanced Ru atom utilization. Download: Download high-res image (189KB) Download: Download full-size image