Cl−-Driven Pathway Switching Enables Efficient Industrial-Current Seawater Oxidation on Dual-Atom Catalysts

• • RuCr-Ni3P achieves >4000 h operational stability under industrially relevant conditions (likely >200 mA cm−2), addressing the critical durability bottleneck for seawater electrolysis anodes. • • Cl− ions are selectively captured by Ru sites, forming a dynamic Ru–Cl coordination motif that electronically modulates adjacent Ni centers, promoting high-valent Ni>3+ species and switching the OER pathway from LOM to AEM, enhancing intrinsic activity. • • Cr sites act as Lewis acid centers, promoting Cr–OH formation and creating a localized alkaline microenvironment that further boosts OER kinetics on high-valent Ni centers. • • The dual-site synergistic mechanism (Ru for Cl− regulation, Ni/Cr for catalysis) effectively converts Cl− from a performance-limiting species into a chemical switch, simultaneously improving activity and stability, offering a new design paradigm for direct seawater electrolysis.