Nitrogen doped FeCoNiS nanoparticles on N, S-co-doped vertical graphene as bifunctional electrocatalyst for water splitting

Abstract

It's important to develop an economical and efficient electrocatalyst for water splitting. Nitrogen-doped FeCoNiS nanoparticles are supported on N, S-co-doped vertical graphene (N–FeCoNiS/SVG) by one-step electrodeposition. The SEM and TEM results show that 30–115 nm nanoparticles grow uniformly on SVG. The XRD results show that N–FeCoNiS/SVG is a polycrystalline material. N–FeCoNiS/SVG exhibits excellent hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER) potentials of 44 mV and 138 mV (10 mA cm−2), respectively, in 1 M KOH. The Faraday efficiency of N–FeCoNiS/SVG for overall water splitting is about 97%. The electrocatalyst also shows excellent stability over 24 h. The XPS results illustrate that N-doping promotes the electron transfer between metal and heteroatom and effectively modulates the electronic structure of FeCoNiS. N–FeCoNiS/SVG has excellent electrocatalytic performance for water splitting. This work provides theoretical and technical support for the study of water splitting bifunctional electrocatalysts.