Facile synthesis of P-doped NiCo2S4 nanoneedles supported on Ni foam as highly efficient electrocatalysts for alkaline oxygen evolution reaction

Abstract

In this work, one-step phosphosulfurization is demonstrated to prepare P-doped nickel cobalt sulfide nanoneedles vertically decorated on nickel foam (P-NiCo2S4/NF) as an extremely efficient electrocatalyst toward the oxygen evolution reaction (OER). The phosphosulfurization is conducted on nickel cobalt carbonate hydroxide in the presence of P2S5. The P-NiCo2S4 nanoneedles on the nickel foam generate a synergistic effect that provides effective mass and electron transfer pathways, endows the electrocatalyst with a moderate electronic structure, and facilitates gas diffusion to enhance the electrocatalytic performance. The catalysts yield a small overpotential of 300 mV to reach a current density of 50 mA cm−2, Tafel slope as low as 70 mV dec−1, and long-term stability over 100 h. These findings highlight the practical feasibility of P-doped NiCo2S4 on NF for water splitting and offer a new approach for efficiently preparing advanced electrocatalysts in the future.