Journal of Textile Research ›› 2026, Vol. 47 ›› Issue (02): 26-36.doi: 10.13475/j.fzxb.20250907101

• Fiber Materials • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Construction of inorganic micro-nano fibers loaded with cobalt-ruthenium atoms and their electrocatalytic water splitting performance

KONG Kexin1, ZHANG Yifan1, LU Zhe1, WANG Zhe1,2()   

  1. 1 College of Textile and Clothing Engineering, Soochow University, Suzhou, Jiangsu 215021, China
    2 National Engineering Laboratory for Modern Silk, Soochow University, Suzhou, Jiangsu 215123, China
  • Received:2025-09-19 Revised:2025-11-30 Online:2026-02-15 Published:2026-04-24
  • Contact: WANG Zhe E-mail:zhewang1119@suda.edu.cn

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Abstract:

Objective To fulfil China's strategic goal of "carbon peak and carbon neutrality", the development of green energy has become an inevitable direction. As a renewable clean energy, green hydrogen has attracted extensive attention. Electrocatalytic water splitting is one of the most effective strategies for green hydrogen production. However, the reported hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER) electrocatalysts suffer from bottlenecks such as slow kinetics and poor stability in acid/alkali electrolytes. This work reports a flexible inorganic micro-nano fiber membrane electrode with high catalytic activity and stability for both HER and OER.

Method A flexible CoTiO3/ZrO2-TiO2 ceramic nanofiber membrane was prepared by electrospinning technique and high-temperature calcination. Then, Ru metal atoms and carbon nanotubes were in-situ anchored on the ceramic nanofibers via impregnation adsorption and chemical vapor deposition (CVD), forming CoRu/ZrO2-Ti3O5/CF. The influence mechanisms of Co and Ru metal loadings on the morphology, micro-nano structure, and HER/OER catalytic performance of the flexible fiber membrane electrode were investigated.

Results It was found through experiments that all fiber membranes exhibited a three-dimensional network structure with randomly interwoven fibers. The CoTiO3/ZrO2-TiO2 consisted of TiO2, ZrO2, and CoTiO3, with uniform diameters and rough textures on the surface. The Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) specific surface area was 7.59 m2/g. Due to poor conductivity and lack of catalytic active sites, the HER and OER performances were relatively poor. Co/ZrO2-Ti3O5/CF and Co0.2Ru/ZrO2-Ti3O5/CF both consisted of Ti3O5, ZrO2, CoO, and Co. The morphology was similar, with carbon nanotubes densely distributed on the surface. TEM showed that the surface carbon nanotubes of Co0.2Ru/ZrO2-Ti3O5/CF were uniform and dense, with Co metal nanoparticles wrapped at the top, proving that Co catalyzed their formation as active sites during high-temperature carbonization. HRTEM confirmed the presence of Ti3O5 (lattice spacing 0.223 nm corresponding to (121) face), ZrO2 (lattice spacing 0.209 nm corresponding to (012) face), and Co (lattice spacing 0.204 nm corresponding to (111) face) crystal structures in Co0.2Ru/ZrO2-Ti3O5/CF. Elemental distribution showed that C, N, Co, and Ru were evenly distributed throughout the entire fiber, while O, Ti, and Zr were mainly within the internal ceramic nanofibers. Moreover, a certain thickness of carbon fiber layer formed on the surface of ZrO2-Ti3O5 ceramic nanofibers in addition to the carbon nanotubes. For CoRu/ZrO2-Ti3O5/CF with Co∶Ti molar ratios of 0∶1, 0.05∶1, 0.1∶1, 0.15∶1, 0.2∶1, and 0.25∶1, Ru/ZrO2-Ti3O5/CF had uniform diameters, smooth surfaces, and no carbon nanotubes. As Co was introduced with increasing loading, the number and length of carbon nanotubes were gradually increased. Raman analysis showed that an increase in Co content led to an increase in ID:IGvalues and an increase in carbon defects. In BET testing, the specific surface area of Co0.2Ru/ZrO2-Ti3O5/CF was 42.89 m2/g, significantly higher than that of CoTiO3/ZrO2-TiO2. At a current density of 10 mA/cm2, Co0.2/ZrO2-Ti3O5/CF had an HER overpotential of 126 mV and an OER potential of 1.557 V, showing a significant improvement in performance compared to CoTiO3/ZrO2-TiO2. The HER and OER overpotentials of the fiber catalyst decreased first and then increased with the increase in Co loading, while the Tafel slope fell first and then rose. The Co0.2Ru/ZrO2-Ti3O5/CF had the smallest overpotential and Tafel slope. In a two-electrode system with it as a self-supported catalyst and 1.0 M KOH as the electrolyte for electrocatalytic water splitting testing, only a low voltage of 1.64 V was required to achieve a current density of 10 mA/cm2.

Conclusion The synergistic effect of Co-Ru bimetallic sites can effectively enhance the HER and OER bifunctional catalytic performance of CoRu/ZrO2-Ti3O5/CF. In 1 mol/L KOH electrolyte, the flexible self-supporting Co0.2Ru/ZrO2-Ti3O5/CF fiber membrane electrode exhibits a high HER and OER catalytic performance: when the current density is 10 mA/cm2, the overpotential is 103 mV for HER, the OER potential is 1.531 V, and the slope of Tafel is 94 mV/dec, which is superior to the noble metal RuO2 catalyst. This research can provide new ideas for the preparation of self-supporting electrocatalysts for water splitting.

Key words: inorganic nanofiber, electrospinning, electrocatalytic water splitting, oxygen evolution reaction (OER), hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), ceramic nanofiber, chemical vapor deposition, electrocatalyst

CLC Number: 

  • TQ343.5

Fig.1

SEM images of the inorganic micro-nanofibers"

Fig.2

SEM images of inorganic micro-nanofibers with different Co metal loadings"

Fig.3

TEM images of Co0.2Ru/ZrO2-Ti3O5/CF"

Fig.4

HAADF-TEM and EDS elemental mapping images of Co0.2Ru/ZrO2-Ti3O5/CF"

Fig.5

XRD patterns of inorganic micro-nanofibers. (a) Different samples; (b) Different Co metal loadings"

Fig.6

Raman spectra of inorganic micro-nanofibers. (a) Different samples; (b) Different Co metal loadings"

Fig.7

XPS spectra of inorganic micro-nanofibers"

Fig.8

N2 adsorption-desorption isotherms of inorganic micro-nanofibers"

Fig.9

Pore structure of inorganic micro-nanofibers"

Fig.10

HER and OER performance of CoTiO3/ZrO2-TiO2, Co0.2/ZrO2-Ti3O5/CF, Co0.2Ru/ZrO2-Ti3O5/CF. (a) LSV curves for HER; (b) LSV curves for OER; (c) Tafel slopes of HER; (d) Tafel slopes of OER"

Fig.11

Catalytic performance of the as-synthesized catalysts with different Co metal loadings. (a) LSV curves for HER; (b) LSV curves for OER; (c) Tafel slopes of HER; (d) Tafel slopes of OER"

Fig.12

LSV curves for overall water splitting"

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