Zr-MOF/NiS2 hybrids on nickel foam as advanced electrocatalysts for efficient hydrogen evolution

Nannan He; Xiaohong Chen; Bo Fang; Yue Li; Ting Lu; Likun Pan

doi:10.1016/j.jcis.2023.03.019

Zr-MOF/NiS₂ hybrids on nickel foam as advanced electrocatalysts for efficient hydrogen evolution

J Colloid Interface Sci. 2023 Jun 15:640:820-828. doi: 10.1016/j.jcis.2023.03.019. Epub 2023 Mar 6.

Authors

Nannan He¹, Xiaohong Chen², Bo Fang¹, Yue Li³, Ting Lu⁴, Likun Pan⁵

Affiliations

¹ Engineering Research Center for Nanophotonics & Advanced Instrument, Ministry of Education, School of Physics and Electronic Science, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200241, PR China.
² Engineering Research Center for Nanophotonics & Advanced Instrument, Ministry of Education, School of Physics and Electronic Science, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200241, PR China. Electronic address: xhchen@phy.ecnu.edu.cn.
³ Shanghai Key Laboratory of Magnetic Resonance, School of Physics and Electronic Science, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200241, PR China.
⁴ Shanghai Key Laboratory of Magnetic Resonance, School of Physics and Electronic Science, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200241, PR China. Electronic address: tlu@phy.ecnu.edu.cn.
⁵ Engineering Research Center for Nanophotonics & Advanced Instrument, Ministry of Education, School of Physics and Electronic Science, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200241, PR China; Shanghai Key Laboratory of Magnetic Resonance, School of Physics and Electronic Science, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200241, PR China. Electronic address: lkpan@phy.ecnu.edu.cn.

PMID: 36905891
DOI: 10.1016/j.jcis.2023.03.019

Abstract

As a typical transition-metal sulfides (TMS), nickel disulfide (NiS₂) has attracted great attention in terms of hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). Howbeit, owing to the poor conductivity, slow reaction kinetics and instability of NiS₂, its HER activity is still necessary to be improved. In this work, we designed hybrid structures consisting of the nickel foam (NF) as a self-supporting electrode, NiS₂ derived from the sulfuration of NF and Zr-MOF grown on the surface of NiS₂@NF (Zr-MOF/NiS₂@NF). Due to the synergistic effect between the different constituents, the obtained Zr-MOF/NiS₂@NF demonstrates ideal electrochemical hydrogen evolution ability in acidic and alkalescent environment, reaching a standard current density of 10 mA cm^-2 at overpotentials of 110 and 72 mV in 0.5 M H₂SO₄ and 1 M KOH electrolytes, respectively. What is more, it also maintains excellent electrocatalytic durability for 10 h in both electrolytes. This work could provide a useful guidance on effectively combining metal sulfide with MOF for high-performance HER electrocatalysts.

Keywords: Hydrogen evolution reaction; Interface effect; Metal-organic frameworks; Nickel disulfide; Wide-pH environment.