Abstract
The chemical challenge of economically splitting water into molecular hydrogen and oxygen requires continuous development of more efficient, less-toxic, and cheaper catalyst materials. This review article highlights the potential of iron sulfide-based nanomaterials as electrocatalysts for water-splitting and predominantly as catalysts for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). Besides new synthetic techniques leading to phase-pure iron sulfide nano objects and thin-films, the article reviews three new material classes: (a) FeS2-TiO2 hybrid structures; (b) iron sulfide-2D carbon support composites; and (c) metal-doped (e.g., cobalt and nickel) iron sulfide materials. In recent years, immense progress has been made in the development of these materials, which exhibit enormous potential as hydrogen evolution catalysts and may represent a genuine alternative to more traditional, noble metal-based catalysts. First developments in this comparably new research area are summarized in this article and discussed together with theoretical studies on hydrogen evolution reactions involving iron sulfide electrocatalysts.
Highlights
On our planet, atomic hydrogen H predominantly exists chemically bonded in natural molecules and products such as water, petroleum, and coal
A recent study has found that traces of HS− in the process forming FeS on the iron catalyst surface, can significantly enhance the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) [5]
The number of reported iron sulfide-carbon hybrid structures is oxide exhibit a higher electrocatalytic activity and superior stability than bare platinum surprisingly small and this section highlights the value of such materials for HER, with a focus on nanoparticles [64] and other studies reveal the high efficiency of Mo2C/rGO hybrid catalysts for composites involving the
Summary
Atomic hydrogen H predominantly exists chemically bonded in natural molecules and products such as water, petroleum, and coal. Bacteria, fungi, or other microorganisms can convert sulfate into reduced sulfide species, which react with metal cations to generate metal sulfide structures [12] Typically during these processes it is difficult to control the purity and shape of the forming nanostructure. The fabrication of effective iron sulfide-based catalysts requires the synthesis of materials exhibiting defined iron sulfur ratios (phase purity) and well-defined shapes (spheres, cubes, wires, etc.) [27]. Regarding catalysis, both phase purity and morphology are of major significance for controlling and improving the performance of the catalyst material.
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