Ru–Ru₂PΦNPC and NPC@RuO₂ Synthesized via Environment‐Friendly and Solid‐Phase Phosphating Process by Saccharomycetes as N/P Sources and Carbon Template for Overall Water Splitting in Acid Electrolyte

Abstract

Abstract Although numerous ruthenium‐based phosphates possess high catalytic activities for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), most of them rely on dangerous and toxic synthesis routes. Biological slices confirm that Ru ions can penetrate the cell walls of saccharomycete, which facilitates the adsorption of Ru ions. Herein, based on a green synthesis process by saccharomycete cells as the carbon template and nitrogen/phosphorus (N/P) sources, novel Janus‐like ruthenium–ruthenium phosphide nanoparticles embedded into a N/P dual‐doped carbon matrix (Ru–Ru 2 PΦNPC) electrocatalyst for HER are synthesized. Electrochemical tests reveal that Ru–Ru 2 PΦNPC displays remarkable performance with a low overpotential of 42 mV at 10 mA cm −2 and demonstrates superior stability at a high current density in 0.5 m H 2 SO 4 . Furthermore, ruthenium oxide nanoparticles coated N/P dual‐doped carbon (NPC@RuO 2 ) are also synthesized with a yolk–shell structure using saccharomycete cells as the core template and RuO 2 as a shell to isolate saccharomycete cells from the oxidation reaction during calcination in air. The NPC@RuO 2 as oxygen evolution reaction electrocatalyst possesses a low overpotential of 220 mV at 10 mA cm −2 . Finally, the Ru–Ru 2 PΦNPC is integrated as a cathode and NPC@RuO 2 is integrated as an anode to construct a two‐electrode electrolyzer to enable an excellent performance for overall water splitting with a cell voltage of 1.50 V at 10 mA cm −2 in 0.5 m H 2 SO 4 .