Synthesis and Characterization of RuO2 Anode Materials with Large Surface Areas for Oxygen Evolution Reaction

A novel olivary or petal-like RuO2 material with large surface area was successfully synthesized by surfactant-assisted homogeneous precipitation method using urea and dodecyl sulfate as the source reagent. The surface morphology, structural, and electrochemical properties of as-synthesized RuO2 materials were characterized by x-ray diffraction (XRD), field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), Cyclic voltammetry (CV), N2 adsorption–desorption isotherms and polarization curve for oxygen evolution reaction (OER). It was found that the morphology and crystalline structures and electrochemical properties of as-synthesized RuO2 materials were strongly dependent on the calcining temperature. The ruthenium-surfactant mesophase with mesoporous structure transformed from network to regular olivary or petal-like RuO2 materials and remaining partial mesoporous character after calcination at lower temperature (i.e., 300 and 400 °C). However, the mesophase transformed into RuO2 agglomeration consisted of nanosized particles after calcination at 650 °C, which may be attributed to complete deorganization and porous structure collapse of RuO2 materials. In addition, the as-synthesized RuO2 materials showed higher specific surface area and better electrochemical activities for oxygen evolution reaction compared with the RuO2 prepared without surfactant. The electrochemical activity of as-synthesized RuO2 material calcined at 400 °C is about 3 times than that of RuO2 prepared without surfactant for oxygen evolution reaction. This can be attributed to the porous structure and large surface area of as-synthesized RuO2 materials.