Synthesis of Efficient TMS@MOF-5 Catalysts for Oxygen Evolution Reaction

Abstract

For environment friendly water splitting, development of highly efficient and stable oxygen evolution reaction (OER) catalyst composed of earth abundant elements is very challenging. Herein, highly efficient OER catalysts TMS@MOF-5 have been prepared by in-situ incorporation of pre-synthesized various transition metal sulfide (TMS = MnS, FeS, CoS, NiS, CuS and ZnS) nanoparticles into MOF-5. Structure, morphology and composition of prepared samples have been analyzed by powder X-ray diffraction, Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy, Raman Spectroscopy, Scanning Electron Microscopy, Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy, Elemental Mapping and Ultraviolet–Visible Spectroscopy. OER activity of all these samples was determined by coating them on Ni-foam to form TMS@MOF-5/NF as working electrode through cyclic voltammetry. Among all the samples, NiS@MOF-5/NF exhibited excellent stability and OER catalytic activity as it required just 174 mV overpotential to achieve the 10mAcm−2current density, which is better than many other 3d transition metal based and Ni-based OER catalysts. Present study provides new way to design more efficient Ni-based catalysts for electrochemical water splitting applications.