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Preparation of MoS2-Graphene-NiO@Ni foam composite by sol coating for (photo)electrocatalytic hydrogen evolution reaction

  • Original Paper: Sol–gel and hybrid materials for catalytic, photoelectrochemical, and sensor applications
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Abstract

Ni foam was first preoxidized by hydrogen peroxide to form a thin NiO layer, and subsequently deposited with graphene and molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) by a facile sol assisted dip-coating method to obtain MoS2-Graphene-NiO@Ni composite. XRD, SEM, TEM, HRTEM, and XPS measurements were performed to analyze the crystal phase, morphology, and surface elemental chemical states of the as-prepared MoS2-Graphene-NiO@Ni composite. The results show that MoS2 nanosheets and graphene were well dispersed on the surface of the preoxidized Ni foam with intimate interfacial contact. The electrocatalytic hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) performance of the Ni foam based electrocatalysts were tested in concentrated alkaline aqueous electrolyte (1 M KOH). Compared with bare Ni foam, NiO@Ni and MoS2-NiO@Ni sample, the MoS2-Graphene-NiO@Ni electrode delivered superior HER performance with a lower overpotential of 150 mV at 10 mA cm−2, a smaller Tafel slope of 80 mV dec−1, and a charge transfer resistance (Rct) of 15.14 Ω. Under simulated sunlight irradiation (150 W Xenon lamp with AM 1.5 optical filter), the overpotential and Tafel slope of the MoS2-Graphene-NiO@Ni composite was further slightly reduced. The enhanced HER performance of the MoS2-Graphene-NiO@Ni composite is dominantly attributed to the synergistic effect of preoxidized Ni foam substrate, high conductive graphene and electrocatalytic active MoS2.

Highlights

  • Sol assisted dip-coating strategy was adopted to prepare MoS2-Graphene-NiO@Ni composite.

  • Delivering low overpotential of 150 mV at 10 mA cm−2 and Tafel slope of 80 mV dec−1.

  • Further enhanced HER activity was achieved under simulated sunlight irradiation.

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Acknowledgements

This work was financially supported by the Natural Science Foundation for Youths of Hunan Provincial of China (No. 2019JJ50206), the Innovation Platform Foundation Project of Hunan Provincial Education Department of China (No. 18K087), and Research-based Learning and innovative Experimental Program for College students of Hunan Provincial (No. S201912658002).

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  1. Key Laboratory of Hunan Province for Advanced Carbon-based Functional Materials, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Hunan Institute of Science and Technology, Yueyang, Hunan, 414006, PR China

    Jianhui Yan, Yang Huang, Li Zhang, Minjie Zhou, Peng Yang, Wanjun Chen, Xiaomei Deng & Haihua Yang

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  1. Jianhui Yan
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  2. Yang Huang
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  3. Li Zhang
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Correspondence to Haihua Yang.

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Yan, J., Huang, Y., Zhang, L. et al. Preparation of MoS2-Graphene-NiO@Ni foam composite by sol coating for (photo)electrocatalytic hydrogen evolution reaction. J Sol-Gel Sci Technol 93, 462–470 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10971-019-05195-w

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