Facile synthesis of flower-like P-doped nickel-iron disulfide microspheres as advanced electrocatalysts for the oxygen evolution reaction

Abstract

Although phosphosulfide and P-doped sulfide materials have been widely reported as highly efficient electrocatalysts for the oxygen evolution reaction (OER), the practical application of these materials is severely hindered by their complicated fabrication method. This paper reports a facile preparation of 3D hierarchical flower-like P-doped Ni–Fe disulfide microspheres by successive hydrothermal and one-step phosphosulfidation, using P2S5 as a source of phosphorus (P) and sulfur (S). Owing to the synergistic effect of the binary metal system, the introduction of P, and unique 3D porous architecture, the flower-like P-doped Ni–Fe disulfide microspheres deliver outstanding OER performance—an overpotential of 264 mV to achieve a current density of 10 mA cm−2, a significantly low Tafel slope of 48 mV dec−1, and excellent long-term durability over 50 h with negligible degradation in alkaline media. The fabrication method applied in this study can provide a new facile approach to the design and synthesis of P-doped metal sulfide materials for various electrochemical applications.