Interface-engineered Co3S4/CoMo2S4nanosheets as efficient bifunctional electrocatalysts for alkaline overall water splitting

Yanhui Song; Wenbo Sha; Tingyu Jiao; Chengqiang Wang; Jiakang Tian; Peizhi Liu; Bingshe Xu; Junjie Guo; Jianguo Liang

doi:10.1088/1361-6528/ac1a41

Interface-engineered Co₃S₄/CoMo₂S₄nanosheets as efficient bifunctional electrocatalysts for alkaline overall water splitting

Nanotechnology. 2021 Aug 19;32(45). doi: 10.1088/1361-6528/ac1a41.

Authors

Yanhui Song¹, Wenbo Sha¹, Tingyu Jiao¹, Chengqiang Wang¹, Jiakang Tian¹, Peizhi Liu¹, Bingshe Xu^{1

2}, Junjie Guo¹, Jianguo Liang³

Affiliations

¹ Key Laboratory of Interface Science and Engineering in Advanced Materials, Ministry of Education, Taiyuan University of Technology, Taiyuan 030024, People's Republic of China.
² Materials Institute of Atomic and Molecular Science, Shaanxi University of Science & Technology, Xi'an 710021, People's Republic of China.
³ College of Mechanical and Vehicle Engineering, Taiyuan University of Technology, Taiyuan 030024, People's Republic of China.

PMID: 34343978
DOI: 10.1088/1361-6528/ac1a41

Abstract

Exploring bifunctional electrocatalysts with high efficiency, inexpensive, and easy integration is still the daunt challenge for the production of hydrogen on a large scale by means of water electrolysis. In this work, a novel free-standing Co₃S₄/CoMo₂S₄heterostructure on nickel foam by a facial hydrothermal method is demonstrated to be an effective bifunctional electrocatalyst for overall water splitting (OWS). The synthesized Co₃S₄/CoMo₂S₄electrocatalyst achieves ultralow overpotentials of 143 mV@10 mA cm^-2for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and 221 mV@25 mA cm^-2for oxygen evolution reaction (OER), respectively, in 1 M KOH. Moreover, it presents a greatly improved durability and stability under operando electrochemical conditions. When used as catalysts for OWS, the Co₃S₄/CoMo₂S₄-3//Co₃S₄/CoMo₂S₄-3 electrodes just need 1.514 V to make it to the current density of 10 mA cm^-2. It is supposed that the introduction of heterogeneous interface between Co₃S₄and CoMo₂S₄could give rise to plentiful active sites and enhanced conductivity, and thus boost excellent catalytic performances. Moreover, the porous feature of free-standing nanosheets on nickel foam could benefits catalytic performances by accelerating charge transport and releasing bubbles rapidly. This work proposes a bifunctional catalyst system with the heterogeneous interface, which could be used in a sustainable green energy system.

Keywords: Co3S4/CoMo2S4; electrochemical water splitting; heterostructure; sulfurization.