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Vol. 18 (2026)

Single-Atom Ru in CoFe-LDH Drives Efficient Charge Separation on BiVO4 for Solar Water Splitting

https://doi.org/10.1007/s40820-025-02062-y
Wenhui Deng
School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Central South University, Changsha 410083, People’s Republic of China
Gaoshuang He
School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Central South University, Changsha 410083, People’s Republic of China
Haozhi Zhou
School of Physical Science and Technology, ShanghaiTech University, Shanghai 201203, People’s Republic of China
Wenhao He
School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Central South University, Changsha 410083, People’s Republic of China
Lei Gan
School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Central South University, Changsha 410083, People’s Republic of China
Chenyu Zhang
School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Central South University, Changsha 410083, People’s Republic of China
Keke Wang
School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Hunan University of Science and Technology, Xiangtan 411100, People’s Republic of China
Xiaoqing Qiu
School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Central South University, Changsha 410083, People’s Republic of China
Yang Liu
School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Central South University, Changsha 410083, People’s Republic of China
Wenzhang Li
School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Central South University, Changsha 410083, People’s Republic of China

Corresponding Author: Wenzhang Li

liwenzhang@csu.edu.cn

Nano-Micro Letters, Vol. 18 (2026), Article Number: 212

Abstract

Bismuth vanadate (BiVO4) is regarded as a promising photoanode for photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting. Despite its advantage in band gap and visible-light response, the BiVO4 exhibits an unsatisfactory achieving water splitting due to severe charge recombination. Herein, we elucidate an innovative approach involving the incorporation of single Ru atom with a CoFe-LDH cocatalyst (Ru0.51-CoFe-LDH) and integrating it onto the BiVO4 semiconductor substrate. The resulting Ru0.51-CoFe-LDH/BiVO4 photoanode film demonstrates commendable charge injection efficiency (76%) and charge collection efficiency (100%). Interestingly, the yield of hydrogen and oxygen increases linearly at a stoichiometric ratio of about 2:1, reaching 158.6 and 67.4 μmol after 140 min of irradiation, respectively. According to experimental characterization and density functional theory calculation, this remarkable performance results from single Ru atoms triggering the electron rearrangement of Ru0.51-CoFe-LDH to engineer active sites and optimize interfacial energetics. Additionally, the negative shift of Ru0.51-CoFe-LDH band edge gives rise to more conspicuous band bending of the n–n junction formed with BiVO4, expediting the separation and transfer of photogenerated electron–hole pairs at the interface. This work furnishes a new preparation perspective for PEC water splitting systems to construct single atoms in the semiconductor substrate.


Highlights:
1 The single Ru atoms trigger the electron rearrangement of Ru0.51-CoFe-LDH to engineer active sites and optimize interfacial energetics.
2 The negative shift of Ru0.51-CoFe-LDH band edge gives rise to more conspicuous band bending of the n-n junction formed with BiVO4.
3 The Ru0.51-CoFe-LDH/BiVO4 photoanode film displays a 3.1 times higher photocurrent density than bare BiVO4 and commendable charge collection efficiency (100%).

Keywords

Photo-electrocatalysis Water splitting BiVO4 photoanode Ruthenium single atoms Layered double hydroxide
Deng, Wenhui, Gaoshuang He, Haozhi Zhou, Wenhao He, Lei Gan, Chenyu Zhang, Keke Wang, Xiaoqing Qiu, Yang Liu, and Wenzhang Li. 2026. “Single-Atom Ru in CoFe-LDH Drives Efficient Charge Separation on BiVO4 for Solar Water Splitting”. Nano-Micro Letters 18 (January):212. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40820-025-02062-y.
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