Sluggish kinetics and high Pt dependence of oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) are the primary factors hindering the large-scale commercialization of low temperature fuel cells. Herein, metallic Co is strain-engineered by atomic Ru to boost the ORR activity due to that the barrier of the ORR intermediate absorption energy can be decreased and a preference to a 4 electron ORR pathway can be achieved according to the theoretical calculation. As a result, half wave potential of the Ru adjusted Co catalyst encapsulated with nitrogen-doped carbon (a-Ru@Co/CN) is high to 0.908 V vs. RHE, 58 mV higher than that of commercial Pt/C, with only 1.33 wt% Ru doped. By considering the excellent stability, durability and alcohol tolerance, a-Ru@Co/CN is equipped in direct methanol/isopropanol fuel cells as cathode catalyst. Fuel cell performance can be enhanced by 60% and 138% with methanol and isopropanol as fuel respectively, compared with Pt/C, demonstrating the application potential in practical fuel cell devices.

动力学缓慢和氧还原反应（ORR）的高Pt依赖性是阻碍低温燃料电池大规模商业化的主要因素。在此，金属Co通过原子Ru进行应变工程化以提高ORR活性，这是由于可以降低ORR中间吸收能的势垒并且可以根据理论计算实现对4电子ORR途径的偏好。结果，与RHE相比，掺氮碳（a - Ru @ Co / CN）封装的Ru调节的Co催化剂的半波电势高至0.908 V，比市售Pt / C高58 mV。 1.33重量％的Ru掺杂。通过考虑优秀的稳定性，耐用性和耐酒精，一-Ru @ Co / CN装在直接甲醇/异丙醇燃料电池中作为阴极催化剂。与Pt / C相比，使用甲醇和异丙醇作为燃料，燃料电池的性能可以分别提高60％和138％，这证明了在实际燃料电池设备中的应用潜力。