A highly efficient Fe-doped Ni₃S₂ electrocatalyst for overall water splitting

The development of efficient and stable electrocatalysts with earth-abundant elements for both oxygen evolution reaction (OER) and hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) in the same electrolyte is incontrovertibly vital in water electrolysis. However, their large-scale fabrication remains a great challenge. Here, we report a self-supported electrocatalyst in the form of Fe-doped Ni₃S₂ nanoparticles in-situ grown on three-dimensional (3D) conductive Fe-Ni alloy foam (Fe-Ni₃S₂/AF) by surface-assisted chemical vapor transport (SACVT) method. Homogeneous growth environment and scalability of SACVT method allow Fe-Ni₃S₂ nanoparticles uniformly growing on AF in large-scale. Fe-Ni₃S₂/AF exhibits high activity and durability when act as HER catalyst and OER precatalyst in alkaline media. The HER and OER overpotential at 10 mA/cm² is considerably small, only 75 and 267 mV, respectively. Moreover, the electrolyzer assembled by Fe-Ni₃S₂/AF for overall water splitting exhibits a low cell voltage and high durability in long-term test. Based on experiments and theoretical calculation, the significantly enhanced activity could be originated from the incorporation of Fe, which contributed to increase the electrochemical active surface area, enhance electrical conductivity, optimize the hydrogen and H₂O adsorption energy of Ni₃S₂ (101) surface in HER, and form active bimetallic Ni-Fe(oxy)hydroxide in OER. The excellent durability of self-supported Fe-Ni₃S₂/AF could be benefited from the in-situ growth of Fe-Ni₃S₂ nanoparticles on 3D AF, which could ensure closely mechanical adhesion between active materials and substrate, promote charge transport and increase surface area. This work provides a facile method for large-scale synthesis of electrocatalysts with high activity and long-term durability for efficient water electrolysis in alkaline media.