Surface-sulphurated nickel–molybdenum alloy film as enhanced electrocatalysts for alkaline overall water splitting

Abstract

Nickel-molybdenum (NiMo) alloys are a kind of promising HER electrocatalysts to supersede precious metal based materials due to their highly active hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) kinetics in alkaline solution. However, the poor stability of NiMo, caused by the Mo dissolution mainly due to the thermodynamically instability of Mo in alkaline media, significantly limits its practical applications. Herein, a facile strategy is developed to modify the surface of the electrodeposited NiMo alloy film via a simple surface sulphuration treatment. Material characterizations show that the NiS homogeneously covers the surface of the NiMo alloy, resulting in a NiS/NiMo heterostructure. Electrochemical measurements show that the NiS/NiMo heterostructure exhibits outstanding HER activity (η-10 mA cm-2 = 77 mV) and good stability for 24 h stability test. Surprisingly, the heterostructure also displays excellent OER kinetics by delivering an ultra-low overpotential of 245 mV (10 mA cm−2). The constructed electrolyzer with NiS/NiMo acted as both cathode and anode needs only 1.547 V to power the water splitting at 10 mA cm−2. The formation of heterostructure and the enhanced electrochemically active surface area are responsible for the exceptional HER/OER electrocatalytic performance. This work offers a simple way to build sulfide/alloy heterostructures to improve the electrocatalytic activity of electrocatalysts.