biostudies-literatureUnknown10(1)Zhuang ZHigh-efficiency water electrolysis is the key to sustainable energy. Here we report a highly active and durable RuIrO_x (x ≥ 0) nano-netcage catalyst formed during electrochemical testing by in-situ etching to remove amphoteric ZnO from RuIrZnO_x hollow nanobox. The dispersing-etching-holing strategy endowed the porous nano-netcage with a high exposure of active sites as well as a three-dimensional accessibility for substrate molecules, thereby drastically boosting the electrochemical surface area (ECSA). The nano-netcage catalyst achieved not only ultralow overpotentials at 10 mA cm^-2 for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER; 12 mV, pH = 0; 13 mV, pH = 14), but also high-performance overall water electrolysis over a broad pH range (0 ~ 14), with a potential of mere 1.45 V (pH = 0) or 1.47 V (pH = 14) at 10 mA cm^-2. With this universal applicability of our electrocatalyst, a variety of readily available electrolytes (even including waste water and sea water) could potentially be directly used for hydrogen production.Nature communications4875https://www.ebi.ac.uk/biostudies/studies/S-EPMC6814841biostudies-literatureThree-dimensional open nano-netcage electrocatalysts for efficient pH-universal overall water splitting.PMC6814841Wu KPan YLi JYu RCheong WCWang DLiu SChen CZhuang ZLi YCao XXiao HLu SPeng QWang YXu CQSun KfalseThree-dimensional open nano-netcage electrocatalysts for efficient pH-universal overall water splitting.High-efficiency water electrolysis is the key to sustainable energy. Here we report a highly active and durable RuIrO_x (x ≥ 0) nano-netcage catalyst formed during electrochemical testing by in-situ etching to remove amphoteric ZnO from RuIrZnO_x hollow nanobox. The dispersing-etching-holing strategy endowed the porous nano-netcage with a high exposure of active sites as well as a three-dimensional accessibility for substrate molecules, thereby drastically boosting the electrochemical surface area (ECSA). The nano-netcage catalyst achieved not only ultralow overpotentials at 10 mA cm^-2 for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER; 12 mV, pH = 0; 13 mV, pH = 14), but also high-performance overall water electrolysis over a broad pH range (0 ~ 14), with a potential of mere 1.45 V (pH = 0) or 1.47 V (pH = 14) at 10 mA cm^-2. With this universal applicability of our electrocatalyst, a variety of readily available electrolytes (even including waste water and sea water) could potentially be directly used for hydrogen production.2019-01-01T00:00:00Z2019 Oct2025-04-04T10:01:03.364Z2019-11-07T08:07:35ZS-EPMC68148413165385610.1038/s41467-019-12885-0