In Situ Fabrication of Electrospun Carbon Nanofibers-Binary Metal Sulfides as Freestanding Electrode for Electrocatalytic Water Splitting

In search of effective and stable bifunctional electrocatalyst for electrocatalytic water splitting is still a major challenge for the highly efficient H-2 production. Here, we reported a facile strategy to design high-indexed Cu3Pd13S7 nanoparticles (NPs) in situ synthesized on the three-dimensional (3D) carbon nanofibers (CNFs) by combining electrospinning and chemical vapor deposition (CVD) technology. The high-index facets with abundant active sites, the 3D architecture CNFs with high specific surface area and synergistic effect of Cu-Pd-S bonds with strong electron couplings together promote the electrocatalytic performance. The Cu3Pd13S7/CNFs shows excellent electrocatalytic activity with low overpotentials of 52 mV (10 mA cm(-2)) for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and 240 mV (10 mA cm(-2)) for oxygen evolution reaction (OER). The excellent protection of Cu3Pd13S7 by CNFs from aggregation and electrolyte corrosion lead to the high stability of Cu3Pd13S7/CNFs under acidic and alkaline conditions.

Automated summary

The study successfully designed a method for preparing high-indexed Cu3Pd13S7 nanoparticles on three-dimensional carbon nanofibers, achieving stable and efficient electrocatalytic water splitting. The Cu3Pd13S7/CNFs material exhibited excellent electrocatalytic activity and high stability, providing a new approach for efficient water splitting electrocatalysts.