Electron–phonon coupling and coherent energy superposition induce spin-sensitive orbital degeneracy for enhanced acidic water oxidation
Abstract The development of acid-stable water oxidation electrocatalysts is crucial for high-performance energy conversion devices. Different from traditional nanostructuring, here we employ an innovative microwave-mediated electron–phonon coupling technique to assemble specific Ru atomic patterns (...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Nature Portfolio
2025-01-01
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| Series: | Nature Communications |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-56315-w |
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| author | Yanfeng Shi Lupeng Wang Miao Liu Zuozheng Xu Peilin Huang Lizhe Liu Yuanhong Xu |
| author_facet | Yanfeng Shi Lupeng Wang Miao Liu Zuozheng Xu Peilin Huang Lizhe Liu Yuanhong Xu |
| author_sort | Yanfeng Shi |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract The development of acid-stable water oxidation electrocatalysts is crucial for high-performance energy conversion devices. Different from traditional nanostructuring, here we employ an innovative microwave-mediated electron–phonon coupling technique to assemble specific Ru atomic patterns (instead of random Ru-particle depositions) on Mn0.99Cr0.01O2 surfaces (RuMW-Mn1-xCrxO2) in RuCl3 solution because hydrated Ru-ion complexes can be uniformly activated to replace some Mn sites at nearby Cr-dopants through microwave-triggered energy coherent superposition with molecular rotations and collisions. This selective rearrangement in RuMW-Mn1-xCrxO2 with particular spin-differentiated polarizations can induce localized spin domain inversion from reversed to parallel direction, which makes RuMW-Mn1-xCrxO2 demonstrate a high current density of 1.0 A cm−2 at 1.88 V and over 300 h of stability in a proton exchange membrane water electrolyzer. The cost per gallon of gasoline equivalent of the hydrogen produced is only 43% of the 2026 target set by the U.S. Department of Energy, underscoring the economic significance of this nanotechnology. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-ee2454a6846d49c5bda56bba77b2c61d |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2041-1723 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | Nature Portfolio |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Nature Communications |
| spelling | doaj-art-ee2454a6846d49c5bda56bba77b2c61d2025-01-26T12:42:12ZengNature PortfolioNature Communications2041-17232025-01-0116111310.1038/s41467-025-56315-wElectron–phonon coupling and coherent energy superposition induce spin-sensitive orbital degeneracy for enhanced acidic water oxidationYanfeng Shi0Lupeng Wang1Miao Liu2Zuozheng Xu3Peilin Huang4Lizhe Liu5Yuanhong Xu6Institute of Biomedical Engineering, College of Life Sciences, Qingdao UniversityInstitute of Biomedical Engineering, College of Life Sciences, Qingdao UniversityInstitute of Biomedical Engineering, College of Life Sciences, Qingdao UniversityJiangsu Key Laboratory for Nanotechnology and Collaborative Innovation Center of Advanced Microstructures, National Laboratory of Solid State Microstructures, Nanjing UniversityJiangsu Key Laboratory for Nanotechnology and Collaborative Innovation Center of Advanced Microstructures, National Laboratory of Solid State Microstructures, Nanjing UniversityJiangsu Key Laboratory for Nanotechnology and Collaborative Innovation Center of Advanced Microstructures, National Laboratory of Solid State Microstructures, Nanjing UniversityInstitute of Biomedical Engineering, College of Life Sciences, Qingdao UniversityAbstract The development of acid-stable water oxidation electrocatalysts is crucial for high-performance energy conversion devices. Different from traditional nanostructuring, here we employ an innovative microwave-mediated electron–phonon coupling technique to assemble specific Ru atomic patterns (instead of random Ru-particle depositions) on Mn0.99Cr0.01O2 surfaces (RuMW-Mn1-xCrxO2) in RuCl3 solution because hydrated Ru-ion complexes can be uniformly activated to replace some Mn sites at nearby Cr-dopants through microwave-triggered energy coherent superposition with molecular rotations and collisions. This selective rearrangement in RuMW-Mn1-xCrxO2 with particular spin-differentiated polarizations can induce localized spin domain inversion from reversed to parallel direction, which makes RuMW-Mn1-xCrxO2 demonstrate a high current density of 1.0 A cm−2 at 1.88 V and over 300 h of stability in a proton exchange membrane water electrolyzer. The cost per gallon of gasoline equivalent of the hydrogen produced is only 43% of the 2026 target set by the U.S. Department of Energy, underscoring the economic significance of this nanotechnology.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-56315-w |
| spellingShingle | Yanfeng Shi Lupeng Wang Miao Liu Zuozheng Xu Peilin Huang Lizhe Liu Yuanhong Xu Electron–phonon coupling and coherent energy superposition induce spin-sensitive orbital degeneracy for enhanced acidic water oxidation Nature Communications |
| title | Electron–phonon coupling and coherent energy superposition induce spin-sensitive orbital degeneracy for enhanced acidic water oxidation |
| title_full | Electron–phonon coupling and coherent energy superposition induce spin-sensitive orbital degeneracy for enhanced acidic water oxidation |
| title_fullStr | Electron–phonon coupling and coherent energy superposition induce spin-sensitive orbital degeneracy for enhanced acidic water oxidation |
| title_full_unstemmed | Electron–phonon coupling and coherent energy superposition induce spin-sensitive orbital degeneracy for enhanced acidic water oxidation |
| title_short | Electron–phonon coupling and coherent energy superposition induce spin-sensitive orbital degeneracy for enhanced acidic water oxidation |
| title_sort | electron phonon coupling and coherent energy superposition induce spin sensitive orbital degeneracy for enhanced acidic water oxidation |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-56315-w |
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