Self‐assemble and in situ formation of Ni1 − xFexPS3 nanomosaic‐decorated MXene hybrids for overall water splitting

• Main Authors: Du, Cheng-Feng, Dinh, Khang Ngoc, Liang, Qinghua, Zheng, Yun, Luo, Yubo, Zhang, Jianli, Yan, Qingyu
• Other Authors: School of Materials Science & Engineering
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: 2020
• Subjects: Engineering::Materials; Metal Phosphorus Trisulfides; MXene
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/10356/139261
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

Herein, the authors present the development of novel 0D–2D nanohybrids consisting of a nickel-based bimetal phosphorus trisulfide (Ni1−xFexPS3) nanomosaic that decorates on the surface of MXene nanosheets (denoted as NFPS@MXene). The nanohybrids are obtained through a facile self-assemble process of transition metal layered double hydroxide (TMLDH) on MXene surface; followed by a low temperature in situ solid-state reaction step. By tuning the Ni:Fe ratio, the as-synthesized NFPS@MXene nanohybrids exhibit excellent activities when tested as electrocatalysts for overall water splitting. Particularly, with the initial Ni:Fe ratio of 7:3, the obtained Ni0.7Fe0.3PS3@MXene nanohybrid reveals low overpotential (282 mV) and Tafel slope (36.5 mV dec−1) for oxygen evolution reaction (OER) in 1 m KOH solution. Meanwhile, the Ni0.9Fe0.1PS3@MXene shows low overpotential (196 mV) for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) in 1 m KOH solution. When integrated for overall water splitting, the Ni0.7Fe0.3PS3@MXene || Ni0.9Fe0.1PS3@MXene couple shows a low onset potential of 1.42 V and needs only 1.65 V to reach a current density of 10 mA cm−2, which is better than the all noble metal IrO2 || Pt/C electrocatalyst (1.71 mV@10 mA cm−2). Given the chemical versatility of Ni1−xFexPS3 and the convenient self-assemble process, the nanohybrids demonstrated in this work are promising for energy conversion applications.