Multifunctionality exploration of Ca2FeRuO6: an efficient trifunctional electrocatalyst toward OER/ORR/HER and photocatalyst for water splitting

Abstract

Durable multifunctional electrocatalysts with zero emission and high catalytic activity are desirable for environmentally benign clean energy technologies such as water-splitting devices, fuel cells, and rechargeable metal−air batteries. Herein, we investigate a new antisite disordered polycrystalline double-perovskite oxide Ca2FeRuO6 (CFR) material for catalytic activity. This makes it a remarkable electrocatalyst with excellent stability in a highly alkaline (1 M KOH) medium for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR), oxygen evolution reaction (OER), and hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). The bulk perovskite exhibits significant onset potentials of 0.9 V for ORR and 1.57 V vs the reversible hydrogen electrode (RHE) for OER, creating a superior bifunctional electrocatalyst. The novelty enhances for trifunctionality as it shows a moderate onset potential of −0.19 V vs RHE for HER. Substantially, the present material efficiently accelerates visible-light-driven water splitting for OER at neutral pH with excellent recyclability. The photo-/electroactive perovskite is an exceptional example of a heterogeneous catalyst for multifunctional activity. A plausible mechanistic pathway for the synergistic effects of eg orbit-filling in perovskite oxides for OER, ORR, and HER activities is proposed by density functional theory (DFT) calculations.