Abstract

HighlightsNanomaterials-based nickel foam (NF-C/CoS/NiOOH) with nanosheets structure and core–shell heterostructure was prepared for the first time by a facile and fast synthesis strategy of Joule-heating and water soaking treatment.The formation mechanism of nanosheets structure was proposed that the driving force of nanosheets structure generation was the metastable nickel activated by thermal shock, and the CoS could induce the NiOOH nanosheets growing continually.NF-C/CoS/NiOOH exhibited good oxygen evolution, hydrogen evolution, and overall water splitting performance.Nanomaterials based on nickel foam (NF) have been widely applied in energy conversion and storage field. Traditional synthesis methods such as hydrothermal method which is dangerous and high cost limited the scalable developments. Herein, we report a fast, simple, and low-cost synthesis method of nanomaterials based on NF by Joule-heating and water soaking treatment. Thin carbon-coated CoS on NF (NF-C/CoS) was synthesized by Joule-heating for a few seconds with rapid cooling. And then, NF-C/CoS/NiOOH with core–shell heterostructure was fabricated by soaking treatment of NF-C/CoS in water on which NiOOH nanosheets grew spontaneously. The formation mechanism is proposed that the coordination complex precursor converts into C/CoS on NF driven by Joule-heating, and the nickel on the surface of NF is activated to form metastable nickel simultaneously. The metastable nickel reacting with water leads to the formation of NiOOH, and the induction of CoS makes NiOOH grow continuously. This synthesis technology provides a new route to manufacture NF-based nanostructures, and the as-fabricated NF-C/CoS/NiOOH exhibits great potential as electrocatalyst for oxygen evolution reaction and hydrogen evolution reaction.

Highlights

  • Sustainable and green energy resources are becoming extremely important to meet the growing demand for energy developments due to the ever-rising environmental pollution and the increasing consumption of fossil fuels [1]

  • The scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and optical micrographs of the cobalt–thiourea coordination complex on nickel foam (NF) indicated evenly distributed on NF which was beneficial to the uniform formation of C/CoS (Figs. 1c1 and S3)

  • NF-C/ CoS/NiOOH showed a sharp increase in oxygen content compared with NF-C/CoS demonstrating the formation of NiOOH by water soaking treatment

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Summary

Introduction

Sustainable and green energy resources are becoming extremely important to meet the growing demand for energy developments due to the ever-rising environmental pollution and the increasing consumption of fossil fuels [1]. The overpotential corresponding to thermodynamics and kinetics of oxygen evolution reaction (OER) and hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) which are the half-reaction of water splitting depends on electrocatalytic materials [4] Noble metal electrocatalysts such as Pt, Ru, and Ir have superior OER and HER electrocatalytic activities, but the development of noble metal electrocatalysts is restricted by the high-cost and conventional coating method in which the binder increases the resistance, buries the active sites, inhibits mass/electrons transports and the loading mass of the electrocatalysts is usually less than 1 mg cm−2, providing limited catalytically active sites [5, 6]. NF-C/CoS/NiOOH exhibited good OER, HER, and overall water splitting electrocatalytic performance

Chemicals
Preparation of Comparative Samples
Materials Characterization
Electrochemical Measurement
Morphology and Structure Characterization
Analysis of Formation Mechanism
Electrocatalytic Performances
Conclusions
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