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Preparation of 3D nanostructured MnCo 2 S 4 as a robust electrocatalyst for overall water splitting
Author(s) -
Hou Bin,
Fu Jianpeng,
Su Hui,
Du Xiaoqiang
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
chemistryselect
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.437
H-Index - 34
ISSN - 2365-6549
DOI - 10.1002/slct.201900865
Subject(s) - overpotential , potassium hydroxide , electrocatalyst , water splitting , catalysis , materials science , oxygen evolution , bifunctional , electrochemistry , chemical engineering , hydroxide , x ray photoelectron spectroscopy , hydrothermal circulation , inorganic chemistry , nanotechnology , electrode , chemistry , biochemistry , photocatalysis , engineering
The exploitation and use of efficient and inexpensive electrochemical catalysts accelerate overall water splitting, which rapidly produces oxygen and hydrogen. In this work, MnCo 2 S 4 is grown on nickel foam by a two‐step method, hydrothermal and sulfuration method. Experiments have shown that the resulting MnCo 2 S 4 /NF exhibits a low overpotential of 310 mV to achieve a current density of 50 mA cm −2 in 1.0 M potassium hydroxide for oxygen evolution reaction (OER). In addition, the MnCo 2 S 4 /NF exhibits a low overpotential of only 167 mV at 10 mA cm −2 for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). Furthermore, MnCo 2 S 4 /NF is acted as a bifunctional water splitting catalyst, and in 1.0 M potassium hydroxide, in order to maintain a current of 10 mA cm −2 , a low battery voltage of 1.61 V is required. The nanostructure, which provides a large specific surface area, which in turn increases the reactive sites, facilitates contact of large areas of water with the catalyst, and rapid transfer of electrons. At the same time, through a series of characterization (XRD, SEM and XPS), it is proved that the catalyst is efficient and stable under alkaline condition.