Swapping catalytic active sites from cationic Ni to anionic F in Fe–F–Ni3S2 enables more efficient alkaline oxygen evolution reaction and urea oxidation reaction

Abstract

Electrolysis of water for producing hydrogen instead of traditional fossil fuels is one of the most promising methods to alleviate environmental pollution and energy crisis. In this work, Fe and F ion co-doped Ni3S2 nanoarrays grown on Ni foam substrate were prepared by typical hydrothermal and sulfuration processes for the first time. Density functional theory (DFT) calculation demonstrate that the adsorption energy of the material to water is greatly enhanced due to the doping of F and Fe, which is conducive to the formation of intermediate species and the improvement of electrochemical performance of the electrode. The adsorption energy of anions (F and S) and cations (Fe and Ni) to water in each material was also calculated, and the results showed that F ion showed the most optimal adsorption energy of water, which proved that the doping of F and Fe was beneficial to improve the electrochemical performance of the electrode. It is worth noting that the surface of Fe–F–Ni3S2 material will undergo reconstruction during the process of water oxidation reaction and urea oxidation reaction, and amorphous oxides or hydroxides in situ would be formed on the surface of electrode, which are the real active species.