Spherical Co/Co9S8 as electrocatalyst for hydrogen production from alkaline solution and alkaline seawater

Cobalt-based sulfide catalysts are considered as potential materials for electrocatalytic hydrogen production from seawater. Here, we have successfully prepared a Co/Co9S8 electrocatalyst with hollow spherical structure. As-prepared material exhibited excellent electrocatalytic activity in hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) in alkaline seawater. The overpotentials for Co/Co9S8 in alkaline seawater were measured as low as 136.2 mV, when reached a current density of 10 mA cm  2. It also had good stability and could be maintained for 24 h in 1.0 M KOH and alkaline seawater. The results of SEM and TEM confirmed that the catalyst had excellent reaction structure. Due to the hollow structure, Co/Co9S8 showed remarkable catalytic performance for HER. The construction method of Co/Co9S8 hollow structure is an effective strategy to improve the performance of HER for seawater splitting. & COPY; 2023 Hydrogen Energy Publications LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

Researchers successfully prepared a hollow spherical cobalt-based sulfide catalyst which exhibited excellent electrocatalytic activity and stability in the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) in alkaline seawater. The catalyst's remarkable catalytic performance for HER in seawater splitting can be attributed to its hollow structure.