In-situ growth of graphene decorated Ni 3 S 2 pyramids on Ni foam for high-performance overall water splitting

Jing Yu, Yue Du, Qianqian Li, Liang Zhen, Vinayak P. Dravid, Jinsong Wu*, Cheng Yan Xu

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

43 Scopus citations

Abstract

Rational design of high-performance electrocatalysts with low cost and large abundance is highly desirable for water splitting technology. Here we report the synthesis of Ni 3 S 2 pyramids coated with crimped graphene (Ni 3 S 2 @G), the unique configuration of which endows Ni 3 S 2 @G with large roughness, creating much more active sites along the edges. Moreover, the coupling of graphene enhances the electrical conductivity of the nanocomposite, and thus improves the electrocatalytic activity due to synergistic effect between graphene and Ni 3 S 2 . Ni 3 S 2 @G hybrid shows outstanding performance toward both hydrogen evolution reactions (HER) and oxygen evolution reactions (OER) with low overpotentials (η 10 = 103 mV for HER and η 20 = 294 mV for OER) and small Tafel slope. Ni 3 S 2 @G electrode also exhibits superior full water splitting ability with a low cell voltage of 1.66 V.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)772-779
Number of pages8
JournalApplied Surface Science
Volume465
DOIs
StatePublished - Jan 28 2019

Funding

This work was supported by Economic, Trade and Information Commission of Shenzhen Municipality through the Graphene Manufacture Innovation Center. Portions of this work were performed in the NU ANCE Center at Northwestern University, using the EPIC facility that receives support from the Soft and Hybrid Nanotechnology Experimental (SHyNE) Resource ( NSF NNCI-1542205 ); the MRSEC program ( NSF DMR-1720139 ) at the Materials Research Center; the International Institute for Nanotechnology (IIN); the Keck Foundation; and the State of Illinois, through the IIN. Q.L. gratefully acknowledges the supporting of National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 51702207 ). Y.D. acknowledges the support from China Postdoctoral Science Foundation ( 2017M621287 ) and Open Foundation of MOE Key Laboratory of Micro-System and Micro-Structures Manufacturing ( 2017KM004 ). Appendix A

Keywords

  • Electrocatalyst
  • Graphene
  • Nickel sulphide
  • Synergistic effect
  • Water splitting

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Condensed Matter Physics
  • Surfaces and Interfaces
  • Surfaces, Coatings and Films

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