Porous flower-like Mo-doped NiS heterostructure as highly efficient and robust electrocatalyst for overall water splitting

Abstract

The development of electrocatalyst with remarkable activity for hydrogen production through water or urea splitting is critical for coping with the energy crisis, but still remains a lot of obstacles. In order to improve the electrocatalytic activity, rational design of nanostructures with rich active sites is an efficient method. Herein, a porous flower-like Mo-doped NiS on Ti mesh (Mo-doped p-NiS/Ti) is synthesized through selective etching of Al(OH)3 in Mo-doped NiAl layered double hydroxides, and then followed by a facile hydrothermal sulfuration process using sodium sulfide as S source to afford Mo-doped p-NiS/Ti. As a non-noble metal catalyst, Mo-doped p-NiS/Ti catalyst exhibits excellent electrocatalytic performance in electrolyte of 1.0 M KOH or 1.0 M KOH with 0.3 M urea. To drive a current density of 10 mA·cm−2, a small overpotentials of 147.6 mV and 162.3 mV in 1.0 M KOH and 1.0 M KOH with 0.3 M urea are required, respectively, and remarkable durability is observed in 1.0 M KOH or urea water solutions. More significantly, Mo-doped p-NiS/Ti holds promises for potential implementation in the overall water or urea splitting.