{
  "abstract": "Developing ruthenium-based catalysts that combine high activity with long-term stability in acid is important for reducing reliance on iridium in proton-exchange membrane water electrolyzer. Here we show that coupling carbon dots with ruthenium oxide creates a strongly connected interface that anchors ruthenium sites and improves charge transport. The optimized two-dimensional ruthenium oxide-carbon catalyst, with the low Ru loading (25.8 μgRu cm−2), achieves a low overpotential of 140 mV at 10 mA cm−2 and operates stably for > 1900 hours. In a proton-exchange membrane device, it delivers 3 A cm−2 at 1.833 V, and remains stable for more than 800 hours at 1.43 V. In-situ characterizations, transient photoinduced voltage and theoretical calculations reveal that interfacial coupling and tensile strain suppress overoxidation and reduce the Gibbs free-energy barrier of the oxygen evolution reaction. This work establishes carbon dots-enabled interfacial strain engineering as a promising approach for low-ruthenium, efficient, and durable water electrolyzers across a wide power range.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [
    "State Key Laboratory of Bioinspired Interfacial Materials Science, Institute of Functional Nano & Soft Materials (FUNSOM), Soochow University, Suzhou, Jiangsu China",
    "Department of Building Environment and Energy Engineering, Research Institute for Sustainable Urban Development (RISUD) and Research Institute for Smart Energy (RISE), The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, Kowloon, Hong Kong, China",
    "Sino-Luso Joint Laboratory for Optoelectronics, Macao Institute of Materials Science and Engineering (MIMSE), MUST-SUDA Joint Research Center for Advanced Functional Materials, Macau University of Science and Technology, Taipa, Macao China"
  ],
  "article_type": "research article",
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 15,
  "authors": [
    {
      "affs": [
        0,
        1
      ],
      "name": "Wenxiang Zhu",
      "orcid": "0009-0007-7619-6854"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Mengjie Ma"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Qintao Sun"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Fan Liao",
      "orcid": "0000-0001-8663-6445"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0,
        1
      ],
      "name": "Jie Wu",
      "orcid": "0009-0006-4573-7307"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Xinyu Che"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Kun Feng",
      "orcid": "0000-0003-2897-8775"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0,
        2
      ],
      "name": "Zhongshan Yang",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-3989-3905"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Hui Huang",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-9053-9426"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Jun Zhong",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-8768-1843"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Tao Cheng",
      "orcid": "0000-0003-4830-177X"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Yang Liu",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-6872-6815"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Mingwang Shao",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-4220-463X"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0,
        2
      ],
      "name": "Zhenhui Kang",
      "orcid": "0000-0001-6989-5840"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1
      ],
      "name": "Meng Ni",
      "orcid": "0000-0001-5310-4039"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/e9pn6x30ca6pg.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.1038/s41467-026-77521-0",
  "fulltext_url": "https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC13737019/",
  "id": "e9pn6x30ca6pg",
  "issns": [
    "2041-1723"
  ],
  "landing_url": "https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-77521-0",
  "language": "en",
  "licence": "CC-BY-NC-ND-4.0",
  "licence_label": "CC BY-NC-ND 4.0",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "heading",
      "Article"
    ],
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      "openalex",
      "2105|Electrocatalysts for Energy Conversion"
    ]
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  "openalex": "W7211956634",
  "pdf_url": null,
  "pmcid": "PMC13737019",
  "pmid": "42982794",
  "published": "2026-09-08",
  "publisher": "Nature Publishing Group",
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/e9pn6x30ca6pg.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-11-09T12:22:20Z",
      "native_id": "PMC13737019",
      "source": "pmc",
      "url": "https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-77521-0"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "chemistry",
      "origin": "openalex:2105|Electrocatalysts for Energy Conversion",
      "subfield": "electrochemistry-energy"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Interface-induced tensile strain stabilizes ruthenium oxide for high-performance acidic water oxidation",
  "title_text": "Interface-induced tensile strain stabilizes ruthenium oxide for high-performance acidic water oxidation",
  "type": "peer-reviewed",
  "updated_at": "2026-11-09T12:22:20Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/e9pn6x30ca6pg",
  "venue": "Nature Communications",
  "versions": []
}