{"title":"Electron–phonon coupling and coherent energy superposition induce spin-sensitive orbital degeneracy for enhanced acidic water oxidation","authors":"Yanfeng Shi, Lupeng Wang, Miao Liu, Zuozheng Xu, Peilin Huang, Lizhe Liu, Yuanhong Xu","doi":"10.1038/s41467-025-56315-w","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p>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 Mn<sub>0.99</sub>Cr<sub>0.01</sub>O<sub>2</sub> surfaces (Ru<sub>MW</sub>-Mn<sub>1-x</sub>Cr<sub>x</sub>O<sub>2</sub>) in RuCl<sub>3</sub> 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 Ru<sub>MW</sub>-Mn<sub>1-x</sub>Cr<sub>x</sub>O<sub>2</sub> with particular spin-differentiated polarizations can induce localized spin domain inversion from reversed to parallel direction, which makes Ru<sub>MW</sub>-Mn<sub>1-x</sub>Cr<sub>x</sub>O<sub>2</sub> demonstrate a high current density of 1.0 A cm<sup>−2</sup> 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.</p>","PeriodicalId":19066,"journal":{"name":"Nature Communications","volume":"32 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":14.7000,"publicationDate":"2025-01-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Nature Communications","FirstCategoryId":"103","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-56315-w","RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"综合性期刊","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"MULTIDISCIPLINARY SCIENCES","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
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.
期刊介绍:
Nature Communications, an open-access journal, publishes high-quality research spanning all areas of the natural sciences. Papers featured in the journal showcase significant advances relevant to specialists in each respective field. With a 2-year impact factor of 16.6 (2022) and a median time of 8 days from submission to the first editorial decision, Nature Communications is committed to rapid dissemination of research findings. As a multidisciplinary journal, it welcomes contributions from biological, health, physical, chemical, Earth, social, mathematical, applied, and engineering sciences, aiming to highlight important breakthroughs within each domain.