Interface Engineering of MoS2 /Ni3 S2 Heterostructures for Highly Enhanced Electrochemical Overall-Water-Splitting Activity

Angew Chem Int Ed Engl. 2016 Jun 1;55(23):6702-7. doi: 10.1002/anie.201602237. Epub 2016 Apr 21.

Abstract

To achieve sustainable production of H2 fuel through water splitting, low-cost electrocatalysts for the hydrogen-evolution reaction (HER) and the oxygen-evolution reaction (OER) are required to replace Pt and IrO2 catalysts. Herein, for the first time, we present the interface engineering of novel MoS2 /Ni3 S2 heterostructures, in which abundant interfaces are formed. For OER, such MoS2 /Ni3 S2 heterostructures show an extremely low overpotential of ca. 218 mV at 10 mA cm(-2) , which is superior to that of the state-of-the-art OER electrocatalysts. Using MoS2 /Ni3 S2 heterostructures as bifunctional electrocatalysts, an alkali electrolyzer delivers a current density of 10 mA cm(-2) at a very low cell voltage of ca. 1.56 V. In combination with DFT calculations, this study demonstrates that the constructed interfaces synergistically favor the chemisorption of hydrogen and oxygen-containing intermediates, thus accelerating the overall electrochemical water splitting.

Keywords: electrocatalysts; interface engineering; molybdenum disulfide; nickel sulfide; water splitting.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't