N, P-doped multiphase transition metal sulfides are used for efficient electrocatalytic oxygen evolution reaction

It is of great significance for the electrolysis of hydrogen and air-fuel cells to synthesize super active non-noble-metal electrocatalytic oxygen evolution reaction (OER). Due to the limitation of the OER process involving multiple electron transfer and multiple intermediates. Catalysts with a single active component can hardly exhibit high activity in this process. Here, we report an N, P-doped multiphase transition metal sulfide composite electrocatalyst (N, P-Co9S8/CoS2/Co1-xS) by an atmosphere conversion pyrolysis strategy. The multiple active components not only provide abundant catalytic active sites for the reaction at the catalytic interface but also the coupling tuning of the heterogeneous interface optimizes the valence orbital of the catalyst, which results in the catalyst exhibiting excellent catalytic activity. Both theoretical calculations and experimental investigations confirm the excellent adsorption kinetics of the intermediates at the interface. When used as an electrocatalyst for OER in alkaline environments, it exhibits robust activity (eta(10): 285 mV, Tafel slope: 70 mV dec(-1)) and long-term stability. Our study illustrates that compared with single-component cobalt-based sulfide, N, P-Co9S8/CoS2/ Co1-xS catalyst is favorable as highly efficient OER catalytic activity.

Automated summary

Synthesizing super active non-noble-metal electrocatalytic oxygen evolution reaction (OER) is of great significance for hydrogen electrolysis and air-fuel cells. In this study, we report a N, P-doped multiphase transition metal sulfide composite electrocatalyst (N, P-Co9S8/CoS2/Co1-xS) synthesized by an atmosphere conversion pyrolysis strategy. The multiple active components provide abundant catalytic active sites and optimize the valence orbital of the catalyst through coupling tuning of the heterogeneous interface, leading to excellent catalytic activity.