Engineering Ru nanoclusters on high-entropy MoMnFeCoNiCu LDH for industrial-current-density anion exchange membrane water electrolysis

Developing efficient and durable electrocatalysts for the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) is pivotal for sustainable hydrogen production. In this study, Ru nanoclusters were successfully anchored onto a high-entropy MoMnFeCoNiCu layered double hydroxide (HE-LDH) substrate. The resulting Ru/HE-LDH heterostructure exhibits exceptional activity, requiring an ultra-low overpotential of only 192 mV to achieve 10 mA cm −2 . Density functional theory (DFT) reveals that the Ru nanoclusters effectively modulate the electronic structure of the high-entropy matrix, optimizing intermediate adsorption energies and lowering the energy barrier for the rate-determining step. Remarkably, the catalyst demonstrates industrial-level stability, maintaining a steady potential for 400 h at near 300 mA cm −2 . Furthermore, in a practical anion-exchange membrane water electrolyzer (AEMWE), the Ru/HE-LDH achieves a current density of 1 A cm −2 at just 1.86 V with 300 h. This work provides a significant advancement in designing high-entropy heterostructures for large-scale, efficient green hydrogen production.