Nickel sulfide microsphere film on Ni foam as an efficient bifunctional electrocatalyst for overall water splitting

• Published in: Chemical communications (Cambridge, England) Vol. 52; no. 7; p. 1486
• Main Authors: Zhu, Wenxin, Yue, Xiaoyue, Zhang, Wentao, Yu, Shaoxuan, Zhang, Yuhuan, Wang, Jing, Wang, Jianlong
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England 25-01-2016
• Subjects: Catalysis; Electrochemical Techniques - methods; Hydrogen - chemistry; Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; Microscopy, Electron, Transmission; Microspheres; Nickel - chemistry; Water - chemistry; X-Ray Diffraction
• ISSN: 1364-548X
• DOI: 10.1039/c5cc08064a

Developing low-cost, efficient, and bifunctional electrocatalysts for both the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER) is an appealing yet challenging task. Herein, for the first time, a NiS microsphere film was grown in situ on Ni foam (NiS/Ni foam) via a sulfurization reaction as an efficient bifunctional electrocatalyst for overall water splitting with superior activity and good durability. This NiS/Ni foam electrode delivers 20 mA cm(-2) at an overpotential of 158 mV for the HER and 50 mA cm(-2) at an overpotential of 335 mV for the OER in 1.0 M KOH. This bifunctional electrode also enables a high-efficiency alkaline water electrolyzer with 10 mA cm(-2) at a cell voltage of only 1.64 V, which could be promising in water splitting devices for large-scale hydrogen production.