Loading…

Electrodeposited nickel-sulfide films as competent hydrogen evolution catalysts in neutral water

The development of low-cost, efficient, and robust electrocatalysts of the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) is a crucial step toward the conversion and storage of sustainable and carbon-neutral energy resources, such as solar energy. Not only the HER catalysts need to be composed of inexpensive ele...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of materials chemistry. A, Materials for energy and sustainability Materials for energy and sustainability, 2014-01, Vol.2 (45), p.19407-19414
Main Authors: Jiang, Nan, Bogoev, Lia, Popova, Marina, Gul, Sheraz, Yano, Junko, Sun, Yujie
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:The development of low-cost, efficient, and robust electrocatalysts of the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) is a crucial step toward the conversion and storage of sustainable and carbon-neutral energy resources, such as solar energy. Not only the HER catalysts need to be composed of inexpensive elements, they are also desirable to be prepared at low energy cost. In this work, we report that nickel-sulfide (Ni-S) films prepared by facile potentiodynamic deposition are active HER catalysts in aqueous media. Notably, the Ni-S films showed catalytic activity in water with a wide range of pH values (0 to 14), as well as in natural water. In pH 7 phosphate buffer, a current density of 60 mA cm super(-2) could be achieved with a Tafel slope of 77 mV dec super(-1) and a Faradaic efficiency of 100%. A long-term bulk electrolysis of the Ni-S film exhibited steady current over 100 h with no deactivation, demonstrating its superior stability in neutral water. Further, an initial activation process was observed, which is likely due to the increase in the effective surface area of the Ni-S film under electrocatalytic conditions. A suite of characterization techniques, including X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and X-ray absorption spectroscopy, were conducted to probe the composition and structure of the Ni-S film, revealing that its major component is Ni sub(3)S sub(2) which was preserved under electrocatalytic conditions.
ISSN:2050-7488
2050-7496
DOI:10.1039/c4ta04339a